Infinity
by Moczo
Summary: The Book of Darkness case is over, giving Nanoha and company some much-needed rest. But the peace ends abruptly as a pair of unknown mages descend on Earth, seeking a lost artifact and reigniting an ancient conflict. It's time to save the world again...
1. Foreword and Prologue

**Foreword:**

Hi! This is my first _Nanoha _story, and before I get to the meat of things, I thought I'd clear up a few details. I would have preferred to make this foreword its own chapter, honestly, but rules are rules and I've had things deleted in the past.

Timeline-wise, the bulk of this story takes place roughly half a year after A's. I chose to play in the ten-year period between seasons two and three, because… well, that's ten years worth of time in which apparently only like, three things happened. Plus, I like the thought of Nanoha having to save the world every six months like some kind of heroic magical alarm clock.

As a result, this means I will be playing fast and loose with canon. I will be giving _StrikerS _a wave every once in awhile to reassure it that everything's going as planned even as I probably ruin continuity forever. As for the supplementary mangas, I will be ignoring them completely, and they should be happy about that since I could do _far worse. _I do this because they are, for the most part, largely unimportant little sides-stories that, while entertaining, really don't affect all that much… except for this one chapter that takes place in pretty much _exactly _the time frame I wanted to write this story in, and has some plot points that just really annoy me. So I'm ignoring them. Take that, canon!

Another thing is that this is my first real shot at an action-based story (Yes, _action. _You know, the _other _thing about Nanoha. Friendship and camaraderie and really huge magic laser beams. I will certainly be teasing, because toying with shippers fills me with glee, but there shall be no romance in this story because me attempting to write romance is a sad, sad thing). As a result… well, it may suck. I don't know yet, so I just thought I'd warn you. But hey, it might turn out really good! You'll just have to read it. But this is mostly relevant because I'm used to writing _humor_, and that's gonna show through (see? It's written right under the story, next to action/adventure). So if it seems like the mood has a case of whiplash, and some of the characters' personalities are a little exaggerated… that's because they probably are.

It's okay, you can laugh. It's _funny_.

And now, without further ado, on with the show.

* * *

**Prologue**:

_**System Initialize**_

_This unit has been offline for 5017 standard program cycles. No administrators currently logged in. System Rights are open, Beginning Standard Emergency Protocols._

_Attempting Recovery of Current Space/Time Coordinates._

_System Error. Current Space/Time Coordinates cannot be computed with presently available data. Current spatial coordinates shall be logged as Unknown until new data is acquired. Until Imperal Calendar date can be determined, restart time coordinates will be logged as Cycle 5018, Year 1, Day 1, Hour 00:00:00. Current time coordinates Cycle 5018, Year 1, Day 1, Hour 00:00:03. _

_Attempting Environmental Analysis._

_Warning! _

_Environmental analysis indicates small-scale hyperspace distortions approximately 1.24 tiketas to the north/northwest of this installation. Cause unknown, duration unknown. High energy output detected, high spatial warp rate detected. Calculated Threat level 3: Potentially harmful to organic life. Issuing request for instructions to all administrative terminals._

_No instructions received. Program 000203010 load: "In the event administrative functions are non-responsive, engage basic search protocols upon encounter with any unidentified phenomena". Research drone dispatched._

_**Current Spatial Coordinates: Unknown. Current Time Coordinates: Cycle 5018, Year 1, Day 1, Hour 00:22:37**_

_Site inspection completed. Unidentified spatial distortion no longer detected. Two samples recovered from site. Preliminary analysis confirms them to be of extradimensional origin. Attempting to cross-reference analysis with dimensional archive database to discern dimension of origin. _

_System Error. Link with dimensional archive database lost. Attempting to restore link. System Error. Link restoration attempt failed. Potential causes: Physical Damage to database or associated link systems. Issuing order request to all administrative terminals._

_No orders received. Program 000203516 load: "In the event administrative functions are non-responsive, any and all unidentified artifacts/samples of interest are to be transported to the nearest functional credited Imperial Research Center for advanced study". Searching for available Research Centers…_

_Searching…_

_Searching…_

_None found. Program 01450198 load: "If no Imperial Research facility is able to take on new specimens at this time, all possible data is to be collected by available on-site equipment. Samples are then to be transported to nearest available storage facility and placed in stasis lock until more in-depth study can be conducted"._

_Commencing Analysis._

_Unknown Sample #01. Designation: Organic life form, humanoid. Dimension of origin: Unknown. Status: Deceased. Severe structural damage detected. Recommended course of action: Disposal._

_Unknown Sample #02. Designation: Organic life form, humanoid. Dimension of origin: Unknown. Status: System Error. _

_Status: System Error. _

_Scan incomplete. _

_Recommended course of action: …_

…

…

…

_**Sample purity meets all required specifications. **_

_**Local Processor Offline. This operation is hereby transferred to Yggdrasil Central Control. Rebooting, stand by. Ready.**_

_**Current Dimensional Coordinates: N/A.**_

_**Current Temporal Coordinates: Imperial Calander Year 507,132. The seventh day of the month of Ashra, hour 03:45:24. This unit has been offline for approximately 501,700 standard years. **_

_**The Revelation Protocols are now in effect, The Yggdrasil Program has been successfully loaded to all administrative terminals. Project: Broken Throne has been approved. Main utilities mainframe active. Power and life support will be restored to the following facilities: Central Command, The Palace of Twilight, The Cradle of God. Initiate data link to central Lazarus circuits. Sample #02 is to be transported to the Cradle for immediate activation.**_

_**Current Dimensional Coordinates: Void**_

_**Current Temporal Coordinates: Ashra 7, Hour 12:11:54, Imperial Calendar Year 507,132. **_

_**Upload Status: Attempt #0001 Unsuccessful. Data Corrupted, File lost.**_

_**Upload Status: Attempt #0002 Unsuccessful. Data Corrupted, File lost.**_

_**Upload Status: Attempt #0003 Unsuccessful. Pattern rejected, sample unsuitable. **_

_**Upload Status: Attempt #0004 Successful. Compatible Pattern Located. Data Corruption Minimal, File successfully recovered.**_

_**Upload Complete. Unit Activation Complete. **_

"**Good Afternoon, Master." **

And in a dim building, in an empty city, on a world wrapped in perpetual darkness, a woman that had been dead for far longer than she had ever been alive opened unfamiliar eyes… and smiled. "Good afternoon," she said. "Now, could you please tell me what happened while I was asleep?"

* * *

**One Year Later…**

Jacobus 'The Terrible' Tarra was not having a good day.

Ever since he'd been old enough to hold a staff, Tarra had wanted nothing more than to be a mage of the Time Space Administration Bureau. To the people of his homeworld, Astarte, the TSAB were the epitome of celebrity. Astarte was a small, unassuming world that was blessed with abnormally high concentration of fertile farmland, and not much in the way of anything else. It had been settled several centuries ago by Midchildan colonists, and today was the single largest producer of foodstuffs in bureau-controlled dimensional space. This resulted in a civilization composed almost entirely of farmers who, nonetheless, knew enough about the universe to tell their children stories about the brave bureau mages of who sailed between worlds in gigantic ships bristling with magical weaponry, fighting evil and sealing away world-destroying artifacts of terror.

This, naturally, resulted in a great many children who decided that sailing between worlds in gigantic ships bristling with magical weaponry, fighting evil and sealing away world-destroying artifacts of terror sounded a great deal more interesting than, y'know, farming. _Every _child dreamed of the day they might be tested for magical potential, and, if they were lucky, be taken away from a life of livestock and crops to the academy, to one day become one of those shining golden heroes.

Tarra had been one of the children lucky enough to have sufficient magical power to warrant training, and one of the children lucky enough to be taken to that glowing golden palace in the stars known as the TSAB Ground Forces academy.

He was also one of the children unlucky enough to discover it kind of sucked there.

Despite what his mother might have said to the contrary, Jacobus Tarra was not a particularly likable young man, nor one blessed with a great deal of self-control. His childhood on Astarte had been notable primarily for the amount of bullying it included, mostly directed from him towards other, smaller people. Which was not to say that other things hadn't had an impact on his youthful development; fighting, womanizing, and the local home-brewed alcohol had all had significant impacts when he'd reached his teens.

To a young man raised on being answerable to basically nobody, the strict academy life had chafed. While he quite enjoyed the combat training (particularly sparring with other, more squish-able cadets), pretty much everything else about the academy grated on him. And as it grated on him, he began to act out… and quickly discovered that the proctors were considerably less forgiving of his stupidity than what had passed for authority figures on Astarte.

For instance, were you aware that the standard punishment for a drunk and disorderly charge for a TSAB cadet was one week in the brig? Or that the punishment for escaping from the brig before your sentence was up was expulsion from the academy? Or that the punishment for throwing a punch at the officer announcing your expulsion was that the officer in question would beat you within an inch of your life and unceremoniously dump you in the infirmary, to be escorted off-site by security as soon as you could walk under your own power? Because Jacobus Tarra was completely aware of all these facts; in fact, he now had first-hand knowledge of them.

But he was not a quitter, no sir. And although he was no longer welcome in the TSAB, there was still a world of infinite possibilities for an enterprising young man with some skill in combat magic, a healthy distaste for authority, and very few morals.

Well, okay, there weren't that many possibilities. But Tarra found a good one. The territory maintained by the TSAB was vast, and included many worlds filled with dead civilizations just waiting to be ransacked, and many more worlds too small and undeveloped to defend themselves. As a result, piracy was hardly uncommon, and criminals who'd managed to get their hands on a surplus cruiser were always looking for more muscle. And so it was that Jacobus Tarra threw away the last vestige of respectability he had and took the long-coming step of just becoming an outright criminal. He was even pretty good at it; it was, after all, basically what he'd been doing for free his entire life. In short order, he taken over the captaincy of his own refitted dimensional gunship, which he'd christened the _Freebooter, _and a small crew. He even began calling himself Jacobus the Terrible, just because he could. He and his boys raided small worlds, undeveloped worlds, looted ruins, and made damn fine money for themselves in the process. Nobody told him what to do, he took whatever he wanted, and he was even starting to become known amongst the outlaw community. There was even talk of him getting a bounty on his head! Yes, life had been good.

_Had been_.

Then he'd made the mistake of ignoring that librarian.

The librarian had sent him a transmission as he'd fled the scene of his last big job. He and his crew had ransacked the ruins of a small city on a world orbiting a star so old it had virtually burned itself out, in a dimension all but devoid of life in general. The librarian had informed him that he'd tripped an alarm and sensor net set by an archaeological expedition that had been on the planet earlier, and that if he'd actually found something they missed it might very well be highly dangerous contraband, and that if he knew what was good for him he would set back down, put back anything he'd taken, and go off to take up a new career. Tarra had laughed in the young man's face, gleefully shown off the five glowing, marble-sized emerald spheres that they had looted and commented that such obviously magical devices would surely fetch a high price on the black market. The librarian had sighed, said something about making a call to his friends, and closed the link.

As Jacobus looked around the burning, shattered ruins of his headquarters (located, for irony's sake, on an uncharted desert world known mostly for having virtually no native plant life. No farms here, dammit!), and the crushed pile of twisted scrap that had once been his ship, parked on the landing pad outside, he began to consider that maybe those gems really hadn't been worth the trouble.

"I'm sorry about that." The little girl in the frilly white dress said. "I'm sure that your ship was very expensive, but you _are _criminals. And it was really for your own good; I didn't really understand everything that Yuuno said, but I guess those jewels you stole from that ruin are pretty dangerous, and nobody knows more about the Lost Logia than him. He said that if you use them wrong you might make a dimensional rift, and that's never good. So you see, it really is for the best if you just give them back so we can make sure they're safely stored. Now, you should probably just stay here and wait quietly. A ship will be arriving in about twenty minutes to take you to prison and deliver the Lost Logia into storage. And if you tell your men to stop fighting, I'll even put in a good word for you at your trial!"

"You… alone… you…" Jacobus stammered.

"Hm? Oh, no, it's not just me! Fate and Arf are outside dealing with your border defenses. It probably would have been more, but well, this operation was so _tiny_… oh, I'm sorry! I made you sound like you weren't threatening! But what I really meant was that Chrono is in charge of his own ship now, so we couldn't really ask him to come along without it, and the brass wouldn't let us bring it… they, um, said you weren't dangerous enough to justify the _Asura's _involvement… not that you aren't dangerous! And Yuuno wanted to come, but he's so busy in the library, if he took that much time off he'd really fall behind. And I guess the Wolkenritter are still on probation until Hayate finishes basic training. I don't know, six months seems like a long time to me, but I'm not in charge. I suppose that her legs still aren't up to walking unaided, so it probably is best not to rush things."

"My… my… my…" Jacobus said, pointing out the huge hole in his wall to the slag that had once been his ship.

"OH! You meant that. I guess it was sort of silly to think you were asking where my friends were. Yeah, I thought I should make sure you didn't use that ship to escape before we got back the artifacts. So, since Fate was keeping your security busy, I decided to just come right here and… again, I'm sorry I had to smash your boat, but I had to make sure you didn't get away. And I was really careful to make sure none of your friends were hurt!" the girl said. And the worst part was that she honestly did sound a little sorry.

Jacobus Tarra was a large man, nearly seven-feet tall and built like a truck. He was a (partially) trained combat mage and his device, a wickedly curved sword forged in the Belkan tradition (or, to be more accurate, forged by a man who _claimed _he'd learned to make devices in the Belkan tradition and _actually _made cheap knockoffs), had cut down many people who'd thought themselves his better. But most importantly, he was a man who'd made a living out of picking on people smaller than himself. To be looked down on like this… pitied… by a _little girl…_

The large pirate let out a guttural yell, his blade bursting into red light as he charged.

The little girl in the frilly white dress sighed and raised one hand. "Raising Heart?"

**"Axel Shooter, full autofire." **Her staff said.

"Shoot." She commanded.

Three seconds later, as Tarra lost consciousness, he vaguely heard Nanoha Takamachi say, "I _did _ask you nicely to come quietly."

And when he woke up, two hours later, packed into the hold of a transport ship in shackles with the rest of his crew and a splitting headache being shipped to the nearest prison (while the little girl in question was, unbeknownst to him, already back at school taking a math test) he couldn't help but think that maybe he would have been better off just apologizing to her.

* * *

In their defense, there was really nothing the crew of the TSAB gunship _Vishnu _could have done differently. After arriving at Unsettled World 1274-0019, at the request of Chief Librarian Scrya, they had taken into custody 27 suspects and five contraband Lost Logia of unknown purpose. They had also winced when they saw what, exactly, the two little girls and the magic dog had _done _to the suspects in question, although that was not, strictly speaking, a part of official mission parameters. Still, it was both kind of awesome and completely frightening, and they could be forgiven for reacting to it.

After taking the devices and suspects into custody for transfer to a secure facility, and asking the field operatives if they would require transport (to which they answered no, that they had teleported in directly from their homeworld and would have to leave the same way if they hoped to get back to school before lunch ended. But thank you very much for offering!), the _Vishnu _had embarked on its return trip; not to Midchilda, but to the Lost Logia Secure Containment and Registration Facility. A fully self-sufficient artificial station intentionally stationed as far (dimensionally speaking, which meant the distance was really sort of metaphorical, but it still counted for something) as possible from any and all life-supporting worlds, the Facility was where all Lost Logia or other technology that had not yet been categorized were stored until Research and Development could get their hands on them.

Basically, it was where the stuff that might explode and rip open the universe if you poked it wrong was kept. Most TSAB workers called it 'The Powder Keg'.

As they were transporting dangerous contraband and enemy combatants, the _Vishnu _was running in full combat mode; magical barriers charged, weapons hot. Dimensional space was always dangerous, of course, but the biggest dangers were to lone travelers or those without proper protection. The _Vishnu _was neither.

So, the fact that billions of lives were about to be put in extreme danger was not really their fault.

It started with a hole. The maelstrom of blues, reds, and purples in the space between dimensions cracked slightly, a spot of pure blackness beginning to grow amongst the swirling colors. It did not get very big, really; no larger than a meter or two across and less than half that from top to bottom. But then it didn't really need to be very large. It was, after all, only there for a single spell to pass through.

The spell in question was a very subtle enchantment, designed only to create a link between two computer systems. It was among the most common enchantments found in any magical world, allowing, essentially, the creation of an internet that stretched between entire _dimensions_. In this case, it was only being used for the far simpler task of creating a link between the central computer of the _Vishnu _and the significantly more advanced system in the building on the other side of the small gate.

Staring through the gate at the _Vishnu_, the dead woman asked, "Do you have it, Yggdrasil? Holding these gates open is rather draining, so I'd appreciate if we could handle it quickly." A glowing white hexagram surrounded by runes spun around her feet as she focused the spells holding the gate open into dimensional space. She was a small woman, and the grey cloak she was wearing was obviously too large for her, but it was the mark of her office and she would wear it with _pride, _dammit all. Resizing be damned, she refused to be made a fool of by her own blasted clothes.

"**Link established, Master." **Said the smooth, cultured, and utterly inhuman voice of Yggdrasil, the sentient central computer for the complex she was standing in… and, to be fair, the entire world, although it wasn't as through there was much requiring its attention anywhere but in the Twilight Palace, at the moment.

"Download and copy all files, before you do anything else. We know all too little about the people who had the gall to build their little kingdom on top of our graves. The intelligence our guest has provided is not nearly enough for my tastes."

"**I did so immediately upon link establishment, Master. Their security is insufficient to either detect or repel my advances." **

The dead woman smiled slightly. "Well done. Have you confirmed the presence of the target on board?"

"**Confirmed. Vessel cargo manifest lists five gems of unknown origin. Physical description consistent with Dimensional Drive Units, Aharasala Heavy Industries model 66-92Y." **

"Five? That's better than I'd hoped for. We need to get as many as possible away from that ship, Yggdrasil, but I'd prefer to handle this subtly if possible. We don't have the capacity to fight a war right at this moment."

"**Confirmed. Accessing command subroutines…"**

On board the _Vishnu, _the first officer turned to the Captain to report that there had been a slight error in one of the automated status reports from the engine room, and that they should probably run a diagnostic on the central computer.

It was roughly this exact second that Yggdrasil seized complete control of the _Vishnu's _central command systems, and ordered them to begin venting the ship's atmosphere.

Deciding that this would be sufficient distraction, Yggdrasil promptly left the subverted environmental programs to cheerfully carry out their new instructions and began to implement the next stage of the operation. Several security programs, activated by this far more overt action, attempted to hinder its progress, but they were neither advanced enough technologically nor powerful enough magically to hold off a sentient computer capable of handling the information processing of an entire magical world. It continued working its way through the _Vishnu's _systems until it finally located the systems for control of the cargo containment units. This section of the ship was, conveniently, designed to jettison in the event that the cargo was discovered to be hazardous, allowing the rest of the vessel to be preserved.

Yggdrasil informed the hold computers that, yes, the cargo was highly dangerous and that the hold should be ejected immediately. It then seized command of the small robotic drones used to handle materials dangerous to organic life and ordered them to wait thirty seconds after ejection, then gather near the thinnest section of the container's hull and self-detonate.

With the Drive Units safely away from the ship, Yggdrasil determined that nearly two minutes of ship-wide explosive decompression had probably distracted the crew enough. Informing the environmental command routines that they had done a very good job indeed, it ordered them to begin restoring the atmospheric integrity as much as possible. The suffocating crew, who had been fighting desperately against their own rapidly diminishing oxygen supply, collapsed to their knees and began breathing gratefully.

The Captain, a long-time veteran who had never before had any ship he'd served on spontaneously try to kill him, looked across his bridge like the natural leader he was and said in his most commanding voice, "What… the… Hell?!"

Okay, he wasn't really looking across the bridge, and his most commanding voice was a pained gasp from two minutes without air. But he was doing his best.

"I'm… checking…" the first officer gasped, checking his console. "Um… sir…?"

"What?"

"The ship's computer… has… well…" the officer said, sounding somewhat embarassed. "Well, after it brought the air back... it seems to have erased itself. Completely."

"… _WHAT?!"_

And just to prove that even a planetary scale sentient machine can have a twisted sense of humor, before Yggdrasil ordered the _Vishnu's _computers to completely erase all files, condemning the crew to days of drifting helplessly before they could manage so much as the most basic communications, it ordered one of the cargo drones that had been in the maintenance bay for a software upgrade to travel to the brig, open the doors, and drag one of the unconscious pirates to one of the secondary command terminals. And so it was that the _Vishnu's _security detail, following a massive computer failure and patrolling the ship searching for potential problems, found Captain Jacobus 'The Terrible' Tarra, himself having not ten seconds earlier woken up from his oxygen deprivation induced nap.

Outside his cell.

Next to a computer terminal.

And so it was that the erstwhile Captain Tarra received his second brutal pounding of the day.

And so it was that nobody on the _Vishnu _noticed, or was even capable of noticing, when a small explosion split open their ejected cargo container, letting the contents fall into dimensional space. Nor did they notice when, on the other side of the small rip in the maelstrom, the dead woman extended one hand and made a beckoning gesture, causing five small gems to float out of the ruptured pod.

The dark gate snapped shut behind them, leaving no clues as to what, exactly, had made the _Vishnu _go completely insane. The dead woman smiled at the green globes floating serenely above her outstretched palm. "_Finally_. After a year spent scrying old storage facilities to find some functioning units, then being beaten to the punch by a pack of common thugs, it's about time something went _well _around here. I never would have expected to find five working units. And they're still in such good condition after all those millennia! I wonder if that's because the sun went dark near the depot world? Cold does funny things."

"**Uncertain, master. I could conduct a study, if you wish."**

The dead woman giggled rather girlishly. "No, no, that's all right. As long as they _work_, it doesn't really matter _why _they work." She said, smiling at the gems, which seemed to glow more brightly in response. "They're quite lovely, aren't they?"

**"I am afraid I am unable to make such aesthetic judgements, my master."**

**"**No need to apologize. Truthfully, their real beauty lies in their utility, more than their appearance." She said, smiling more widely. "So small, and yet, within them lies the potential to turn back the clock nearly half a… million… … actually, no. Download all files from that vessel concerning the current universal time and calendar system to my memory, and begin using it yourself as well. Language, also."

"**I do not understand, master. I see no reason for you to lower yourself to the level of the current…"**

"Our world is dead, Yggdrasil. Our empire is dead. And both have been that way for some time. If we hope to bring them back from the great beyond, some things are going to have to change by necessity. Most importantly, we need to able to communicate and relate to the common populace of the modern day civilizations."

"**Very well. Command confirmed. Rerouting… rerouting…" **The dead woman closed her eyes as new information and concepts rushed into her mind, accepting the pain as nothing more than the price for such knowledge. Growth often hurt. After a short pause, the computer began to speak again, but in a completely different language. "**Universal translation program active, new time systems integrated. The current year is Dimensional Calendar Year 66. This unit has been offline for approximately 199,941 standard years by the TSAB calendar."**

"… really? My, they have rather long years if that few have passed."

"**TSAB Calendar years are based on the routine appearance of a dimensional vortex located in coordinates…" **Yggdrasil began helpfully.

"Yes, thank you, but I don't actually need to know that just this moment."

"**Of course, master. Is there any information you do require?"**

She thought for a moment. "Well, I do wonder as to the status of my guardians. How are their repairs going?"

"**Restoration of Lightning and Ocean units has reached 90% completion. They will be operational and ready for field work within the next eight standard days. Restoration of Flame unit has reached 84% completion. It will be operational and ready for field work within the next ten standard days."**

"They do have names, you know." The dead woman said dryly. "But I suppose I can't fault you for being impersonal, given that you are not, in fact, a person. Continue their repairs then, and send 'Ocean' and 'Lightning' to install the first driver as soon as they are complete. Oh, and shut down surveillance of my bedchambers. I'm still getting used to holding those rifts open for more than a few seconds, and this body hasn't a great deal of stamina. I need to rest."

"**As you command, Master." **Yggdrasil said.

Travelling to the lavish bed in the adjoining chambers, the dead woman laid down on it and let the five small gems float freely in the air above her. She smiled at them again as they cast their soft green glow over her face. "Eight days." She said softly. "In eight little days, we'll get it all back."


	2. Picnics Are Bad

**Author's Note: A reviewer pointed out that it seems odd that the TSAB is apparently only on year 66. And I agree! It seems weird, doesn't it? But according to everything I've found to get some kind of date, the 'Jail Scaglietti incident', meaning _StrikerS_, took place in 'Year 75', and this is nine years before that, so Year 66. I can only guess that Midchilda was running around colonizing things and being magical for quite some time before they got around to forming/joining the TSAB, and that they started using a different calendar when they did so.**

**Chapter 1: Picnics are Bad**

School was a very time consuming thing.

Working and training with the TSAB, even part time, was also a very time consuming thing.

And so, on that rare, once-every-few-months-if-you-were-lucky day when a full-time student and part-time mage didn't have to do either, there was nothing to do but enjoy oneself.

Nanoha Takamachi hummed happily to herself as she tied her hair up into its usual style. She had been in a good mood recently, after all. School was going well, and she was getting to spend more time with her friends than she had for some time; especially Fate, considering they worked together too. And as for work, the worst crisis recently had been those pirates last week. And 'crisis' was being used very, very loosely in this case, considering the entire problem had been solved in about fifteen minutes by two ten-year old girls and a dog.

But today was a rare, precious day off, and she was absolutely determined to enjoy it. The sun was shining, Arisa, Suzuka, and Fate were all free, and the lunches were courtesy of Midoriya Café. Forget mage duty, it was time to go out, enjoy the best weather of the year, and indulge in a meal with friends in one of the most time-honored and beloved of settings. It was, in short, _picnic time. _

Now, the universe is a strange and complicated place. Expanding for infinite distance in all directions, filled with countless trillions of worlds, stars, and phenomena that no human being could possibly hope to comprehend, much less define. And a long standing debate has raged between sentient species on worlds throughout creation as to whether or not this magnificently complex existence sprung into existence of its own accord, or was created by some higher power. Realistically, it is distinctly unlikely that a definitive answer will ever be reached, at least in our lifetime. But a few things are absolutely certain:

If there is a god or gods, than he/she/it/they has/have a highly defined sense of irony. He/she/it/they keep/keeps a close watch on optimists and deeply enjoy/enjoys screwing with them. And finally, if god or gods exist, then he/she/it/they has/have a deep and burning hatred for people attempting to eat picnic lunches.

If none of the above is true, then apparently picnics are simply cursed. Possibly by quantum mechanics.

Whatever the case, the most likely method to ensure that one's day does not go as intended... and to, most likely, ruin it... is to plan and attempt to carry out a picnic.

* * *

Fate Testarossa… No, no, it was Harlaown now. It was so new, she sometimes forgot that the adoption had been finalized only a week or two ago. She would have to do something about that… maybe start using _both _names? Fate Harlaown Testarossa? She'd have to think about it.

In any case, Fate Who-Had-A-Last-Name-Even-If-She-Wasn't-Sure-What-It-Was stretched, yawned, and leaned back against the tree she had climbed.

_You know you don't have to sleep in trees anymore, right? It's been awhile since we had to run a stakeout... unless you know something I don't. Is danger lurking in the tall grass? _Arf thought to her in a slightly mischievous tone.

_If there were, I'd be relying on your nose to find it, so I'm the one who should be asking that. _Fate replied in the same slightly irreverent tone of thought. _But in any case, I _like _climbing trees. It's fun._

_Fun? No, no. Fun is down here. Those little brats will never see their precious Frisbee again! Mwahahahaha! _Arf thought jovially, hiding beneath the tree Fate had chosen to rest in, someone's toy clenched firmly between her teeth. She was, obviously, in her puppy form at the moment; a grown woman or a giant wolf running around carrying a toy in her mouth would have been a tad conspicuous.

_Arf. You didn't seriously steal some poor kid's Frisbee. _Fate thought in disbelief.

_Hey, we're supposed to be having lunch here, in like ten minutes! We don't want a bunch of loud kids running around throwing things while we're trying to have a nice picnic. Plus, hey, free toy! I'm really not seeing the downside for me here._

Fate sighed.

_Fine, fine. I was just kidding, you know that. I'll give it back. _A brief pause. _Eventually._

In spite of herself, Fate chuckled. She supposed if her familiar stealing a cheap plastic disk from overly energetic children was the worst thing she had to worry about, it would be a rather nice day. And Arf really would give it back. She was good at fetch.

Smiling at the sound of soft footsteps approaching, Fate prepared to leave her perch. She assumed it was Nanoha and company, approaching quietly because they thought she'd fallen asleep. She leapt down from the tree, hoping to surprise them… and found herself face-to-face with a girl about her age, but not one of the ones she'd been expecting. The girl in question had pale white skin, royal blue hair and eyes (which may have been odd for Earth, Fate could never tell. She _thought _it was strange, but then Suzuka's purple hair kept flashing into her mind. She'd never had the courage to ask if it was dyed or not.), and a strange, stylized tattoo looking like three interlocked crescents inside a triangle emblazoned on her forehead. Most unusually, however, she was wearing a formal and, from the looks of it, very expensive kimono in shades of blue and green. While it was a lovely garment, it was not even remotely what any reasonable person would wear to a day in the park. And yet, here it was…

Fate smiled. "Oh, hello. I'm sorry if I startled you, I thought you were a friend of mine. I'm waiting to meet someone here."

The girl stared at a spot a few inches to Fate's left. "Oh."

"Um… my name is Fate. You are?" She asked the girl hesitantly.

"… animal."

"… Eh?"

"That animal. I've never seen one like it before. May I take a closer look at it?" The girl asked.

"Oh. Well… um…" Fate thought for a second, realizing she couldn't very well say, 'Oh, just let me ask her' in front of a stranger. _Arf? _She thought.

_I don't know… this girl smells a little funny… _Arf said. _Not to mention _looks_ a little funny. And _acts _a little funny…_

_She's… she's probably just eccentric. Rich people are a little different, sometimes. Just let her pet you or whatever she wants to do. She seems harmless enough. _Fate chided.

_Fine, fine. I guess if you're okay with it, it's not a problem. _Arf agreed.

"Yes, that should be fine." Fate said finally. The pause had been minimal while they communicated telepathically, but Fate had a feeling that they could have paused for a week before the girl in front of her began to notice. "She's very friendly."

"Ah. Ah-ha." The girl said, then knelt down to stare intently at Arf. "Quadruped. Two eyes, two ears, jewel on the forehead appears to be purely ornamental," She intoned dully. She then lifted up the sides of Arf's mouth, something which would have probably made a real dog bite her but just made poor Arf look rather baffled. "Elongated canines… carnivorous? But small. Juvenile, or a low-tier predator focused on rodents and the like? Rounded snout, head and paws out of proportion to body… most likely a juvenile, then," The girl then turned to the increasingly confused young mage. "This animal… is a pet?"

"Um… well, I suppose yes. She's my dog." Fate replied.

"Ah." The girl said, then began to stare into space.

Silence reigned.

"Are you okay…?" Fate asked after a few seconds.

The girl remained silent.

"Um… miss…?"

"Is this animal cute?" the girl asked.

"… huh?"

"Oh, dear, did I use the wrong word? I meant to ask if this animal is aesthetically pleasing. I find myself a poor judge of such things…" the girl said, her voice trailing off.

"Oh! Yes, well… I'm biased, because I'm her owner, but I think she's very cute. And most people seem to agree with me." Fate said jovially.

_Awwww… _Arf thought happily.

The girl, for her part, nodded mechanically twice, as if processing this new thought. She then patted Arf on the head exactly once and said, "Good juvenile predatory quadruped. You are cute."

_It… it loses some of the charm when she says it. _Arf thought.

"I'm glad you think so…" Fate began.

"Have you seen my brother? I was here with my brother for a very important errand, but he often wanders off when we are on business, and I'm afraid I've lost him." The girl said, steering the conversation in a whole new direction without the slightest warning or segue.

"Oh, um… maybe? What does he look like?"

Silence.

Silence.

"… male?" The girl replied.

"You… you don't know?" Fate asked doubtfully.

"Should I?"

"Well, you said he was your brother…"

"Oh. Yes." The girl said thoughtfully. "I suppose I should know a good description of him, then, shouldn't I?"

"… Yes?"

"Hmmmm… he's… well…" the girl said, making several vague motions with her hands. She then fell silent.

"Is… is that it?" Fate asked doubtfully.

"Is what it?" The girl asked.

_Faaaate, this girl is crazy… _Arf thought in a tone that was getting increasingly creeped out as the conversation progressed.

_I know, I know! I don't know what to say to her! _Fate replied in a tone that was getting increasingly desperate as the conversation progressed.

"Ooooh, Fate, who's this? Is she a friend of yours?" A blessedly familiar voice asked from behind Fate.

"Nanoha! Arisa! Suzuka!" Fate said in desperate relief. "Thank God!"

"While it's nice to be appreciated, I suppose, all I did was bring lunch…" Nanoha said, a goofy smile on her face.

"Okay, everyone, this is…" Fate began, then remembered the odd little girl had never actually introduced herself. "This is a girl."  
"… really." Arisa said in her most deadpan of tones.

"Yes, really." The girl said helpfully.

"Right. She says she's looking for her brother, and she's… been less than informative, otherwise." Fate said.

"Oh! You poor thing, you're lost?" Suzuka said. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Could you help me find my brother? He should be nearby."

"Well, of course we'll help!" Suzuka offered instantly. "What does he look like?"

"Oh, no." Fate said, her face falling visibly.

Nanoha cast a worried look in her direction. "What's wrong?"

"I already asked her this. She didn't exactly provide top-class information…" Fate said glumly.

"He's about a head taller than me, and looks a few years older. His hair and eyes are the same color as mine, and he has this same tattoo on his forehead." The girl said calmly.

"What… but… you…" Fate sputtered.

"That seems pretty good to me, Fate." Arisa said.

"But… when I asked… she…" Fate said.

"That's the same thing I told you…" The girl said softly.

"No you didn't! You just waved your arms around!"

"Really?" The girl said doubtfully. "That doesn't _sound _like me…"

"... I… I… I…" Fate said eloquently.

"Are you sure you haven't been out in the sun too long?" Arisa said.

"Maybe she has a cold…" Nanoha ventured.

"Oh! Poor thing, let me check your temperature…" Suzuka offered.

"AH-HA!" A very, very loud male voice proclaimed. A young man who fairly clearly had to be the girl's brother leapt… literally… onto the scene, kicking up a small dust cloud as he slid to a stop. He was just as the girl had described him, albeit dressed even more oddly than she was.

"A… a Shinsengumi?" Nanoha said. "I… I wasn't going to mention the girl's kimono, but why is this boy dressed like a samurai?"

"I _knew it_!" The young man proclaimed. "I knew that something had happened to you! You've been kidnapped!"

"Oh, no, we were just trying to help her…" Fate began.

"Confirmed." The girl said.

"So you _did _kidnap her! I knew it!" he said, a smug smirk appearing on his face.

"Actually, I think she was agreeing with Fate..." Suzuka said.

"As soon as Tsukuyomi vanished, I thought to myself, 'Yes, she's definitely been kidnapped', and here she is! I found her, because I'm extremely dedicated, yes!" The boy said, continuing to barrel straight down the wrong side of the intellectual road.

"I didn't vanish. You did." The girl, apparently named Tsukuyomi, pointed out.

"Hush, Tsuku. That's not how I'm choosing to remember it." The boy said. "Now, you kidnappers, there's no escape for your sort! I will rain justice down upon you all for attacking my poor little… sis… ter…" he trailed off. "Is that food, you have food there?"

"Um… oh, yes…" Nanoha said, remembering the basket in her hands. "We… were going to have a picnic lunch, then maybe go shopping… if the weather stays nice…"

"… AH-HA! Then you're in luck! For the low, low price of a sandwich, I will happily forget your crimes and let you leave this place unpunished!" the boy proclaimed grandiosely.

"He'd really forgive his sister's kidnapping for a snack? Some samurai…" Arisa said dryly.

_They're both crazy! _Arf helpfully pointed out, expanding her telepathic speech to include all of the increasingly confused girls.

"I was not actually kidnapped…" Tsukuyomi said mildly.

"Whaaaaat?! You weren't?! Then what's going on here?!" the boy asked.

"I wanted to study that animal."

Tsukuyomi's older brother followed the line of her finger to look at Arf.

Silence reigned.

"CUTE!" He suddenly snapped, making everyone present (except his sister) jump halfway out of their skin. "Tsukuyomi, this animal is extremely cute!"

_Again… it sort of loses something when he says it_. Arf thought dryly, beginning to become desensitized to the rambling train of dialogue.

"Oh… um… thank you. I'm her owner, Fate Tes…" Fate began, trying to steer the conversation into something resembling human speech.

"And these girls! Now that I take the time to look at them, all of them are also cute!" the boy said, almost _angrily._ "In fact, if I really take the time to look, they're all _very_ cute!"

"Well, he's a little odd, but I guess he's not _all _bad…" Arisa commented modestly.

"And in fact, you in that outfit is also very cute, Tsukuyomi!" He proclaimed, now seemingly on the edge of panic. "There's way too many cute things here, Tsukuyomi, too many! It's too distracting! We have to finish our errand or big sis will be really mad when she wakes up, but it's hard to focus on work with this many cute things running around!"

"Oh, are you on an errand?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes, we were sent out to deliver something, but we can't find where we're supposed to be going and everyone keeps looking at me funny even though I checked before we came and this is definitely appropriate garb for a warrior in this region!"

"Oh, you're lost?" Suzuka asked, delicately choosing to ignore a great deal of the previously spoken sentence. "Well, where are you trying to find? Maybe we can give you directions."

"It's… um… oh, where was it? AH-HA! That's right! I have a note!" He said triumphantly, pulling a sheaf of paper from inside his… armor. "We are looking for… _dammit, these aren't words!_" He screamed in frustration.

"Hmmm? Oh, you don't read Japanese?" Nanoha said.

"I don't? Hmmmm…I don't! Why do I feel like I should? Ah, well, I guess it doesn't matter if you can. You… _can_ read these bizarre symbols, right, small girl?"

"Well, yes, of cour…" Nanoha began.

"Then all is not lost! Hurry, translate!"

"Hmmmm… okay, it says 'Gate 1, Tokyo, Japan… Earth. That's the small island on the easternmost edge of the largest continent. You should arrive reasonably nearby, so look for any especially large… leylines?'" Nanoha translated.

"Very well done, small girl! You're very smart!" the boy said cheerfully. "And Tokyo is… huh. Where?"

Arisa pointed to the south. "It's that way."

"Oh, thank you."

"About two-hundred kilometers that way."

"… oh."

"You… seem to be a little more lost than we thought." Suzuka said. A very polite girl, that one.

"Kilometer… hmmm… is that anything like a Tiketa? It's sort of stupid unit of measurement, based on the footstep of some obscure Emperor from six-hundred years ago. That guy was a jerk, but hey, I got used to his measurement system." The boy said.

"I… I have no idea."

"Wait, wait! Kilometers! Of course, that was in the download package! Geez, mine must have been faulty or something. But how did we end up two hundred… ah, well, I suppose even computers aren't perfect. C'mon Tsuku, if we hurry we should be able to make it there pretty quickly." He then picked Tsukuyomi up bodily and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of vegetables before sprinting off in the direction Arisa had pointed. "Thank you, small girls!" He shouted as they disappeared into the distance.

The girls just stared.

"So. Nanoha." Arisa said, after a short while.

"Yes?"

"I'm still sort of new to this whole mage thing you and Fate have going on, but I'm going to hazard a guess and say those two probably weren't from this world."

"Oh, no." Nanoha said.

"Not even close." Fate said.

"I'm a talking dog, and even I seem less out of place than they do." Arf said.

"So, I'm assuming we're going to have to reschedule our day off?" Arisa continued.

"It's… it's beginning to look that way." Nanoha admitted.

"You know, Nano," Arisa said. "I know you really love it, but I've got to say I sort of hate your job, sometimes."

"It… it has certain downsides." Nanoha admitted in a chagrinned tone.

* * *

"Our cover is compromised." Tsukuyomi commented mildly. Once out of sight of the small group of human girls, the two had taken to the air, reasoning that as long as they stayed at cloud level anyone who spotted them would think 'bird'. As fast as they were, it was only minutes before the Tokyo skyline came into view.

"No, it isn't! I mean, only a real mage would know that converging leylines signify a dimensional stress point, right? And what are the odds that any of those girls was a mage? This planet is still burning fossil fuels!" the boy pointed out.

"The odds are approximately 245,108 to 1," Tsukuyomi admitted. Then the small oval-cut sapphire on her pendant glittered briefly. "Recalculating. The odds are 1 to 1."

"Oh, you cannot be serious." The teen boy said, looking over his shoulder to see three dots in the sky behind them, rapidly growing larger. "Her majesty is not going to be happy. Big sis will be even less happy."

"Our orders were to remain undetected until the first driver is placed. This mission is a failure." Tsukuyomi said.

"Don't be stupid. They might not want a fight, and even if they do it's three against two. We can handle them."

"And if they represent the Bureau?"

"Ugh, good point. If they have reinforcements we'd have to start a war, and that would be fun, but Ammy would hurt me. What should we do?"

"Lose them?"

"Can we? They've got a pretty good lock on us. Okay, here's what we're gonna do. I'll hold them here, you go on and find the gate."

"Can you handle all three?" Tsukuyomi asked, the faintest hint of concern in her voice.

The boy smiled viciously. "Little sister, you know I love ya, but if you ask me something like that again I might have to get mad. Just who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

"Ah. Ah-ha. Do not die, older brother." Tsukuyomi said, pulling away from him and speeding towards the rapidly approaching city.

The young man spun in mid air and skidded to a halt to face the three approaching figures. "Raijin, armor me."

"**Barrier Jacket.**" The pendant said. His barrier jacket, a white trenchcoat over an armored black bodysuit, flickered into existence. "**Time for combat, your highness?**" the device, a jagged piece of metal shaped like a small razor asked, its voice that of a young girl.

"Maybe not. Ammy and her majesty wouldn't want us to start a fight, so if we can talk our way out of this, we probably should."

Raijin shared her opinion of this course of action quickly enough. "**Boring!**"

"Well, if we can't convince them to leave, we'll have to wipe them out before they can call reinforcements. Is that okay with you?"

"**Strike like lightning and crush them, your highness!**"

"Hee hee. Bloodthirsty as ever, you crazy bitch." He said fondly. "Okay, okay, stand by. Maybe we'll get to play after all. Just to be safe, let's lock the civilians out of the loop, okay?"

"**Time/Space Sealing, activate!**"

* * *

_Fate, Nanoha. It looks like one of them stopped. Be ready for anything. _Arf, now in her human form, warned.

_Nanoha, do you think we should go in hot? _Fate asked, clutching Bardiche but not yet ordering any combat actions from her device.

_Hmmmm… he doesn't look like he has his device prepped or anything. For all we know they're just tourists. _Nanoha thought doubtfully.

_In my experience, most tourists aren't looking for vaguely magical gates in Tokyo. _Arf thought dryly.

_Point taken. Still, I've noticed that in the past, our problems tend to end up solved by huge explosions, and beams, and things like that. It would be nice if we could just talk it out, once in awhile. _Nanoha replied.

_Nobody ever wants to just talk it out. Who do we know who's ever wanted to talk it out? _Arf pointed out.

_… Even _I _didn't want to talk it out at first. _Fate agreed reluctantly.

_I know, I know. But maybe they'll be the first! We could start a new trend where we just sit down and have a civilized discussion instead of blasting each other! Wouldn't that be nice?_ Nanoha thought desperately.

_It would certainly be simpler. And cause less property damage. _Fate agreed.

A rush of motion flew past them, and the air instantly became darker.

"A barrier…" Nanoha muttered. "Raising Heart, get ready, just in case."

"**Stand by." **

She'd have preferred to talk it out, but she wasn't _stupid. _

The three girls came to a stop in front of the young man, now dressed in a barrier jacket and somehow managing to recline on thin air.

"Hey, ladies!" he said cheerfully. "How was your picnic?"


	3. Gods of War

**Chapter 2: Gods of War**

Nanoha Takamachi had been a mage for roughly a year, and in that time had been exposed to two major cases. Both of them had been deep, emotional and complex. Many people had suffered in both, and many more had had the wounds in their hearts healed. Both had changed her, forever.

Both had also been solved by, for all intents and purposes, pointing Raising Heart at the problem and blasting it until it wasn't a problem anymore. So she was certain to keep one hand on her staff and ready to blow the strange boy out of the sky if necessary. She didn't _want _to, of course, but hey… there was a girl in black floating right next to her and a quartet of Belkan Knights being trained at TSAB headquarters that proved it worked pretty well in a pinch.

"Hello!" she shouted, once they'd gotten within speaking distance of the young man. "Don't worry, we just want to talk."

"Oh? That's nice. I'd just like to talk too. What are we going to talk about?" He asked.

"We're with the Time-Space Administration Bureau. My name is Fate Testarossa. This is Nanoha Takamachi and my familiar, Arf." Fate said. Immediately afterwards, she kicked herself mentally for saying 'Testarossa' instead of 'Harlaown'.

"We know you're not from this world. We want to know why you're here? Earth hasn't discovered magical energy yet. There's nothing here you should be interested in." Nanoha inquired.

"You're here." The boy pointed out.

"I live here." Nanoha replied.

"I'm go to school with her, so my family lets me stay in our home here most of the time. I'm from Midchilda, originally." Fate offered.

"Where Fate goes, I go. You've ruined our lunch, by the way." Arf grumbled.

"My point stands. Apparently the Bureau found this world fascinating enough to train up a local and let one of their agents get educated here. Why shouldn't we take a look around? Maybe it's a really nice world, or something." The boy said, looking around as though checking the world for fleas or something. Maybe he would open the world's mouth and look at its teeth, his expression suggested.

"If that were the case, it wouldn't be a problem. But you're looking for something specific, aren't you? A 'gate'. And I can't help but notice you haven't told us who you are." Nanoha pointed out.

"Oh, that's right! Where are my manners? My name is Susanoo. There, we all know each other, isn't that great? Go away."

"Susanoo… and Tsukuyomi?" Nanoha wondered aloud. "Who are you…?"

_Is there a problem, Nanoha? _ Fate asked telepathically.

_Susanoo and Tsukuyomi are the names of two Shinto gods. I'm simplifying this a bit, but it's a big religion here in Japan and..._

_I know, Nanoha. I've been going to the same school as you for awhile now. I've picked some things up. _Fate thought gently.

_Right, right, sorry. It's just that as far as I know, Shintoism has never spread beyond Earth, but… well, the day that I buy that this guy is from Earth is the day that I hang up Raising Heart and take up knitting. _Nanoha replied.

_Hmmm… that is a little odd, I guess. If it was just one, that's one thing, but they can't both be coincidences._

_Remind me to ask Yuuno about it later. We've got more important things to worry about right now. _Nanoha replied. Out loud she said, "That's a start. But what is this gate you're looking for?"

"Sorry, but I really can't give you that information. To be frank, I'm not one-hundred percent sure I understand how it's supposed to work myself. But look, I do have some standards, and they include not hurting people who can't fight back. So I wouldn't be doing this if it were a threat to that city over there, all right? Plus, it's all for a good cause!"

"Which is…?"

"Um… I can't tell you that, either. Orders, and all." He dropped his voice into what he probably considered a conspiratorial tone. "Covert ops."

Nanoha sighed. "Fate?"

"Regulations are clear. Any magical artifact of unknown origin and purpose is to be classified a Lost Logia and restricted until determined safe by HQ. And unsupervised activation of a Lost Logia is, of course, illegal." Fate said.

"Okay, Mr. Susanoo. You seem like a pretty reasonable person… can't you just please walk away? We can't let you commit any crimes, but you haven't done anything wrong yet, so if you just stop right now than nothing will happen to you or your sister. I'm sure you have a good reason for wanting to find your gate, but most Lost Logia are extremely dangerous, even if you think you know how to use them. Please, can't we just settle this peacefully and go our separate ways?" Nanoha asked, a warm smile on her face to show her sincerity.

"Yeah, okay, I've got another idea. I'll let you meet Raijin." The young man extended his hand, and the jagged metal pendant he slipped off his neck began to glow blue before growing and configuring itself into an intelligent device… which, in this case, took the form of a really, really big axe. Actually larger than the boy holding it, in fact. "Say hi, Raijin."

"**Prepare to suffer!" **The axe said cheerfully.

"Sorry about that. She's a little energetic. Hasn't been out in awhile." Susanoo said apologetically.

"… Of course, maybe there will be a huge fight. Like always." Nanoha said sadly.

"Sorry, ladies. Well, actually," Susanoo said, his cheerful smile morphing into a predatory smirk. "I'm not _really _sorry. I'm assuming you noticed that undercover really isn't my thing?"

"You were sort of pathetic at it." Arf said helpfully.

"HA! Yeah, I totally suck at the subtle things, y'know?" He said, his mirth apparently genuine. "I'm very much a straightforward brawler, if we're being honest. Unfortunately for you lovely young ladies, I'm really, _really _good at it." drumming his fingers meaningfully on Raijin as he spoke.

"Please, there's no need for this. Just talk to us, there has to be some way we can…"

"Oh, come on. You think you can get me all worked up like this and still try to talk?! I've been skulking around avoiding notice ever since I woke up. A straight fight will be a nice change of pace," Susanoo said, that mad grin growing even wider. "I just hope you three are better quality than the usual garbage that seems to pass for a mage in this day and age, or even three on one will be pretty boring!"

_Nanoha_. Fate thought. _Arf and I will hold him here. You need to break out of this barrier and find the girl before she reaches the Logia._

_Be careful, Fate. _

_I always am. You're the one who always pushes it too far. _

Nanoha didn't reply, but she did smile slightly as she broke away and rocketed past the young man.

"And just where the Hell do you think you're going?!" Susanoo roared. "Raijin, rip her out of my sky!"

**"Thunderclap!"** the axe proclaimed, beginning to glow blue. Susanoo swung the blade, sending a wave of crackling electrical energy surging at Nanoha… or it would have been, had Fate not slammed Bardiche into the underside of his weapon as he swung, diverting his aim and sending the attack harmlessly skyward. Susanoo instantly swung the blade back towards Fate, who brought Bardiche up to intercept… and was slammed backwards by the force of the impact as though she weighed no more than a doll. Off balance, she was in no position to do anything but dodge desperately backwards before he could launch a more focused attack.

Fortunately, Arf was there, just like always. Susanoo broke off his assault to draw his weapon back towards his body, using the wide blades as a shield against the glowing golden punch Arf threw at his face. This time he was the one sent flying back through the air; Fate took advantage of his few seconds of disorientation to set up her attack.

"Bardiche! Load Cartridge and lock on target!"

"**Cartridge Load. Plasma Smasher, get set."**

**"**Plasma Smasher… FIRE!" Fate shouted.

"Meet it head on, Raijin!" Susanoo ordered in reply.

"**Lightning Blade, ready!"**

Rather than dodge or deflect the attack, Susanoo simply swung the energy-charged blade directly into the stream of magic. Blue and gold lightning collided, sending off an explosion of light and thunder that filled up the darkened sky within the barrier.

"Heh, heh… hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Susanoo laughed uproariously when the light faded. "So you're a lightning mage too, huh? How'd that taste, Raijin?"

"**Quite strong!" **Raijin said in a cheerfully bloodthirsty tone totally incongruous with its childish voice. **"Ripping her apart will be fun, your highness!"**

"Um… thanks?" Fate said doubtfully.

"Oh, don't mind her. Trust me, that was about the closest this crazy thing gets to a compliment." Susanoo said cheerfully. "Hmmm… darn, I guess that brown haired girl got away. Nice work! You win!"

"… eh?" Fate said.

"What? You were trying to distract me so she could get away, right? Well, you did it! Good job!" Susanoo said.

"Oh… um… thanks?"

" 'Oh, um thanks'?" Susanoo repeated mockingly. "Come on, kiddo, show some energy! I just paid you a compliment!"

"Ah. So that whole 'frantic goofball' thing you had going back at the picnic wasn't an act, huh?" Arf said dryly.

"Hey! Don't mock me, tailed woman! If you want your master to be an effective lightning mage, energy and passion are the most important things! I know that's true because I say so, and I'm never wrong so it must be true!" Susanoo proclaimed.

"What about when you thought your sister was kidna..." Fate began.

"MOVING ON!" Susanoo quickly interrupted. "Now, I'm going to compliment you again, and this time, show some enthusiasm when you accept it! Ahem… 'Why Fate, I think that huge lightning beam you shot at me was very impressive! I truly admire the skill with which you deal destruction! Nice job!'"

"… … …" Said a, by now, very baffled Fate.

Susanoo sighed deeply. "Wow. I see this is gonna take some work."

"Work?"

"Sure! As of now, I'm declaring you to be my new apprentice! I'll turn you into a first class lightning mage! You've already got the skills down, so all I really need to do is get you to have the appropriate attitude!"

"What?! I don't want…" Fate began.

"Oh, don't worry, it's no trouble."

"That's not what I was going to…" Fate began.

"Yes, yes. You were going to say you don't want me to overshadow you. I know, it's hard when your teacher is so awe inspiring. But don't worry! I understand that an apprentice cannot be caught in her teacher's shadow! No, she needs to spread her wings and fly! So fly, Fate! Step out into the world and let your presence inspire wonder from the masses like a bolt from the heavens!" Susanoo proclaimed grandly, striking what he probably deemed to be a heroic pose. "My apprentice, Fate Testarossa! The next great hero of this new generation!"

Arf struggled not to laugh.

_Arf! What the heck?!_

_I'm sorry, it's just… the look on your face… _Arf replied, even her inner voice cracking with mirth.

"Can we… can we just fight now?" Fate asked, blushing furiously.

Susanoo sighed in disappointment. "Again with the bland! Ah, well. This is still your first lesson…" He smirked and held Raijin over his head with one hand. A turbine on the weapon's shaft began to spin, and the blade hummed with energy. "… so maybe I'll just to have _beat _an appropriate action out of you!"

_What was that? I didn't see a cartridge load, but the power from that weapon just… _Fate thought frantically.

And then he charged, and time to think became a luxury.

* * *

A silver staff set with an oval-cut blue-green gem sparkled in the sunlight.

"Suijin. Move us outside of their sight." Tsukuyomi said, looking down upon the city of Tokyo from her perch atop a convenient office building.

"**Time Seal.**" The staff's voice intoned. The sky darkened once again as another barrier burst into existence, filtering those without magical abilities into a slightly different space-time.

"Thank you. Now, we must locate the gate. Please begin a wide area location spell, if you don't mind."

"**Search mode… Warning! Incoming!"**

Tsukuyomi raised her head to look around, to spot a rapidly approaching pink comet. "Susanoo could not hold them all."

"**Confirmed, my lady."**

"Prepare for combat, Suijin. We shall have to deal with this mage before we can continue our search."

"**Yes, my lady. Barrier jacket, activate."**

Tsukuyomi's kimono dissolved into an elaborately frilled dress in the same blue and green color scheme, including a pair of blue high-heeled boots and a green ribbon in her hair. Taking back to the sky, Tsukuyomi considered the approaching mage. "Good afternoon," She said once the girl had gotten fairly close. "I'm sorry, but I have a mission to accomplish. Could you please leave?"

"Please, you have to stop! I don't know why you're going after the Lost Logia, but trust me when I say that things like that are better left alone! If you stop now, there's still time for you to talk to your brother and avoid further violence. Otherwise, you two are going to end up in prison!" Nanoha pleaded.

"Lost… Logia?" Tsukuyomi asked. "Oh, the gate. Don't worry, it's not lost, we've just misplaced it. Now, please leave."

"Um… that's not actually what I meant…" Nanoha said.

"Yes, it is." Tsukuyomi said absently.

"… … … …"

"**Focus, master.**" Raising Heart chimed in.

"Huh? OH! Yes. My point is, that what you're trying to do could be very dangerous. Couldn't you just stop and talk it out before you go ahead? As things stand, if you don't at least make your brother stand down, I'm going to have to use force to stop you." Nanoha stated.

"Oh, that wouldn't be a good idea. I'm actually quite dangerous, if pressed." Tsukuyomi advised her. "But we could compromise, perhaps? I will convince Susanoo to stand down if you agree to withdraw and stop interfering with our objectives."

"Maybe, if you told me a little bit more about what you're trying to do…" Nanoha suggested.

"Unfortunately, my superiors have ordered me not to disclose that information. You already know more than you should." Tsukuyomi replied.

Nanoha readied Raising Heart. "Then I'm sorry, but letting you go through with your plans without even any explanation is just too much of a risk to this world. Please, put away your weapon and come with me."

"I see. Very well, I surrender." Tsukuyomi said, and motioned with her left hand. A six-pointed turquoise star blinked into existence at her palm.

"HEY! Who says they surrender while they're attacking?!" Nanoha protested, just barely dodging the bind that burst into existence around her and pretty much had to have been set up in advance. It caught the edge of her left foot, dispelling the flier fin on that leg and sending her into a spin.

"I am using deception." Tsukuyomi informed her, pointing the tip of her staff at the floundering mage.

"I figured that much out already!" Nanoha snapped, a little more worried about getting her flight spell working properly again.

"Waves, crash. Draw her into the endless current and crush her." Tsukuyomi incanted.

"**Cascade Break." **Water, seemingly from nowhere, gathered at the tip of her staff and fired at Nanoha in a punishing jet.

Deciding that now wasn't the time or place to be worried about spells, Nanoha took the simple approach; she stopped her fall by jabbing Raising Heart into the side of a building, then essentially pole-vaulted out of the path of the water jet. This turned out to be a very good decision, as the high-pressure stream sliced through the masonry like a knife through butter, sending a chunk plummeting to the streets below. At least the barrier around the area would ensure nobody got hit by it, thank God for small favors.

Tsukuyomi frowned. "That should have been faster… is the air too dry for even a simple spell like that?"

Finally, Nanoha managed to restore her lost fin, returning to something resembling controlled flight. Leveling her weapon, she shouted, "My turn! Lock on, Raising Heart!"

"**Divine Buster, stand by!"**

**"**Shoot!"

"Defend me." Tsukuyomi requested.

"**Mirror Wall." **Suijin said, and a much larger hexagram appeared in the air between Tsukuyomi and the oncoming attack. The massive pink-white beam struck the turquoise barrier, and pressed against it for several seconds with no visible effect.

"Not good." Tsukuyomi said mildly. Although the beam did not penetrate, when the light cleared her shield had several visible cracks running through it. "You are… more dangerous than anticipated."

"Then don't fight me! Please, I've already told you I'd be happy to just talk this out!"

"Hm? No, I am not afraid of you." Tsukuyomi said coolly. "But you really have nothing to do with this, so I'd hoped to be gentle with you."

Nanoha looked at the building with the huge chunk sliced out of it, and imagined what might have happened if that attack had hit _her. _"…That was gentle?!" she asked, eyes wide.

"I was only aiming for your arm." Tsukuyomi replied agreeably.

"… … … … …" Nanoha said, eloquently.

"You see, if you only had one arm, you wouldn't have been able to continue and could have withdrawn while I…" Tsukuyomi explained, apparently mistaking Nanoha's mild terror for confusion.

"I… I get the idea." Nanoha said wearily.

"It is not ideal, but it is unfortunately striking to cripple is as gentle as I can be with you. My domains are water and moonlight, and most of my spells for defense and binding are linked to the former. It is a hot, dry day, and we are not near any large standing pools… with so little moisture in this atmosphere and insufficient time to produce my own, my ability to strike nonlethal blows is somewhat limited." Tsukuyomi stated. As she spoke, a turbine in the shaft of her weapon began to spin rapidly, and the feel of magic around her became thicker. "Do not worry, though. I am far more versatile than my brother. Even with my water spells crippled, I still have quite a significant repertoire, although the chances that I will kill you by accident are increased."

"That's really not a very good reassurance…" Nanoha said.

"**Lunatic Veil." **Suijin said.

**

* * *

**

Fate struggled to control the shaking in her arms and wiped some sweat from her brow before it could drip into her eyes. She spared a glance at Arf, who was in much the same boat.

_You okay?_ Her familiar asked her silently.

_Y-yeah. He caught me by surprise with that last exchange, but he didn't land any solid blows. His speed is only average, but his power and stamina are both off the charts. My arms are almost numb just from parrying… I can't keep close combat up for much longer. If we don't get some distance he's going to take us apart. _This thought in mind, she shifted Bardiche to Assault form, since it was more useful for long-range shooting than the Haken she'd been using to try to keep her head from getting chopped off.

Susanoo smiled cheerfully. "You two are truly impressive! I know I've said that before, but you're really defying all my expectations. The mage attacks at high speed while the familiar sets up binds and barriers… I can't afford to ignore either, and I can't focus on either one long enough to eliminate her without the other taking my back. Again, very nice!"

Fate smiled a little bit in return. "You're the impressive one from where I'm standing. Two on one, and you're still not letting either of us get far enough away to counteract your close range advantage. And I can't help but notice none of those attacks and binds you're complimenting have actually done much to slow you down."

"Hey, thanks! You know, you're a pretty okay girl, Fate Testarossa. I wish I could play with you a little bit more, but I do have a job to do. I guess I'd better finish this up. Raijin, load up a wide-range attack. We're going to just blow away the whole battlefield."

"**Storm Shatter, stand by!" **the axe said, that turbine beginning to rev again.

_Fate, he's charging up for another big one, and I think he's aiming for you! _Arf warned, putting up her best barrier.

_Good. That turbine on his device… I don't understand the principle, but in practice it's no different than a cartridge; just a sudden, sharp power boost. Now that I know what to watch for… maybe I can finally spot an opening in his attacks!_ Fate said. "Bardiche?"

"**Cartridge Load!" **Bardich snapped two cartridges in, fairly humming with stored power.

"Get ready, and on my command…" Fate began.

"**Storm…" **Raijin shouted, drowning out the last of Fate's command.

"_… SHATTER!" _ Susanoo finished, swinging his blade in a wide horizontal arc. The attack that arose was similar in form to the wedge of lightning he'd hurled at Nanoha at the beginning of the fight, but significantly greater in scale; a vast wave of crackling blue death that filled the sky with light and a resounding thunderclap. Arf, barrier and all, was sent flying just from the shockwaves. Fate, the main target…

After the light cleared, Fate was simply _gone. _

Susanoo's eyes widened. "Well, that isn't good." He said. And that was when the first of the golden missiles struck him, more and more flying in to smash into the off-balance man from all directions.

Fate, her barrier jacket in Sonic Form as she floated safely about a hundred meters _above _her opponent, said, "Plasma Lancer, direct hit. Sorry, but an attack that huge really does leave you wide open if it misses."

A blue spark snapped through the smoke from the explosion.

"... oh, no." Fate said.

With her speed enhanced by Sonic form, dodging the axe as it came flying out of the cloud was simple enough. Unfortunately, being faster didn't help her avoid being surprised when she looked at the weapon and saw that there wasn't a person attached to it.

_He _threw _his dev- _Fate began to frantically think, only making it about halfway through before Susanoo burst out of the smoke… bloody, burned, and with a psychotic smirk… and punched her in the side of the head.

Really, really, hard.

As Fate struggled to clear her vision and make her ears stop ringing, she only faintly felt the second hammer blow as he kicked her in the midsection as hard as he could. She felt vaguely aware that a simple physical blow, even with her defenses thinned by Sonic form, shouldn't have hurt so much through the field projected by her barrier jacket.

It wasn't really Vita's fault, she realized as her mind managed to piece the answer together, but Fate was delirious enough to blame her anyway. A weapon as large as Graf Eisen in the hands of such a small girl must, logically, have a system to eliminate the weight of the device, or it wouldn't be usable. Vita was certainly stronger than she looked, but not _that _much stronger.

And this fact had led her to make the same assumption about Susanoo's Raijin; that such a huge blade must obviously have some method for making itself light enough to be usable. Only now did she recognize that, apparently the actual reason he could lift it so easily was that he _was _that much stronger than he looked. Which meant he almost certainly was some sort of construct... that would be good knowledge to file away for when her brain started working again.

Continuing to try to think and stay conscious, she finally felt her fall slowed by something soft and warm. _Arf?_

"Gotcha, Fate. Hang on." Her familiar said. She then turned her head to look at Fate's assailant. "You…" she growled, quite literally.

Susanoo just smiled even more madly and extended a hand to catch his falling weapon. "Hahahaha! Again, very nice! To boost your speed that much without losing any power, that's an impressive trick! But it looks like you had to lower your defenses to pull it off. Too bad!"

_Of course, _he added silently, _I got very lucky with that last shot. If her defense hadn't actually dropped, or she'd reacted a fraction of a second faster, she might have taken my head off without Raijin to defend with. And even with a head injury to slow her down, I've barely touched her familiar the whole fight, and that big shot she hit me with pretty much destroyed my barrier jacket and ripped up my body pretty bad. Even if it's just me against the animal-girl, I wouldn't say I'm guaranteed a win.__ How fun! _

"So, you girls ready to keep going? Raijin, you're set, right?" He said out loud to his newly reclaimed weapon.

"**Never throw me again, you idiot! I am a melee weapon!" **Raijin snapped.

"… hey! You stupid hunk of scrap! We're in the middle of a fight, now's not the time to be second-guessing me!" Susanoo retorted, his wounds momentarily forgotten.

"**Our victory is because of my power, **_**your highness.**_** But you threw me away like garbage!" **the axe stated, adding a sarcastic tinge to the honorific.

"Hey, we're only _winning _because I took the big risk and thought outside the box! Besides, I'm the one who got hurt because _you _have no accuracy! Not to mention that you don't _have _any power without me, so just switch off your voicebox and live with it!"

Fate got unsteadily to her feet (on thin air, no less), trying to ignore the ringing in her ears. "Hey… who said either one of you… is winning? The last time I checked, you look worse than I do."

"Heh, heh… hehehehe… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Great! Just great! _That's_ the spirit I expect from my apprentice!"

"**We're not done talking about this!" **Raijin warned.

"You wanna have your memory core wiped after the fight? 'Cause I'll do it, and I won't even feel bad afterwards." Susanoo said mildly.

"… **Let's focus on the battle, your highness!" **the axe replied nervously.

"Arf?" Fate said.

"We absolutely… cannot lose… to this idiot and his idiot device." Fate said carefully, trying to keep herself steady despite most of her muscles feeling uncomfortably like jelly and a horrible pounding in her head.

"Oh, yes." Arf agreed.

* * *

_This is new. _Nanoha thought, looking through the mist that had arisen around her and her opponent. While the purpose was not immediately obvious, given that despite the mist she could still clearly see both Tsukuyomi and everything else, it was safest to assume that this was some sort of trap. "Raising Heart, a barrier would be appreciated." She muttered.

"**Round Shield." **There. Now no matter what happened, she'd have _some_ protection…

"Insufficient." The girl's emotionless voice said… from right next to her ear, inside her shield.

She spun, Raising Heart rising into a defensive position, only to find nothing there. And of course, that was really the point.

"**Howling Moon**." Suijin intoned in its calm voice. A beam of silver light slammed into Nanoha's shield. Weakened by her distraction, it nonetheless managed to block the majority of the attack and she was merely sent sprawling across the nearest rooftop with a few new bruises. She snapped to her feet and scanned the area, but Tsukuyomi was nowhere to be found.

_Not good. _Nanoha thought. _Illusion, teleportation or both? No… personal teleportation isn't that fast. It has to be illusionary, and it has to be the fog. It's making me hallucinate, some-_

"**Howling Moon."**

Nanoha did her best to dodge, it but was rapidly becoming apparent that her ears and eyes were equally compromised. She heard the blast approaching, saw the silvery light, but neither the sound nor the light had come from the direction the blast actually hit from, and in fact neither had actually come from the _same _direction. It wasn't until she practically _felt _the beam ruffling her clothing that she got an accurate picture of where the attack was approaching from, and just barely managed to turn a battle-ender into a glancing blow.

A glancing blow that hurt like _Hell_. If the girl's plan was just to wrap her in this illusion and keep taking potshots at her until she couldn't dodge anymore, it wasn't a half bad plan. A thousand beestings could kill you just as easily as a single bullet… and Tsukuyomi had all but stated she planned to kill Nanoha. With that grim thought bolstering her resolve, she assessed her options.

At this point, she had once again caught sight of the other mage, but she wasn't foolish enough to assume that the girl was actually where she appeared to be floating. _I need to get out of this fog! But how far does it extend… and will I even be going in the right direction? If I get turned around in here, I could just be walking into a trap. No, I definitely _will _be walking into a trap if I do this incorrectly. _

"Raising Heart? If you have suggestion, I'd love to hear it."

"**Sensor input obscured. Sorry, Master." **The device said, genuine sadness in its voice… at least Nanoha thought so. It was hard to be sure, but she liked to think that she'd gotten to know her device pretty well by this point.

"Don't apologize to me, I'm having the same problem." Nanoha said warmly. "Now, I think I've got a plan, but I need you to handle most of the heavy lifting, okay? I won't be able to do much in the way of concentrating, since I need to keep us… well, alive."

"**Without your help? Harder, but for my master, okay!"**

"I knew I could count on you!" Nanoha said, smiling brilliantly. "Oh, no. Just a sec…"

"**Howling Moon."**

This time Nanoha managed to dodge just a little better than the last time, but still went sprawling as her knee was clipped by the blast. She gritted her teeth through the pain and promised herself a nice long bath for her aching muscles once this was over. "Raising Heart, you still with me?"

"**The plan is?**"

Nanoha smiled mischievously. "Weeeeell… if we can't get out of the fog, we get _rid _of the fog, right? How do we usually handle things like that?"

"**Full power, set! Stand by for Starlight Breaker."**

"It's like you read my mind. Now, here's the problem. You'll have to gather the energy without me, because I need to make sure she doesn't shoot us while we prepare. How long do you think that'll take you?"

"**By myself?" **The staff said doubtfully. It had, after all, never done this before, as Nanoha was painfully aware. Intelligent devices were designed to focus the mage's power, but Starlight Breaker was fueled by power from the surrounding environment, so, theoretically, Raising Heart should be able to do it without her will guiding the energy and shaping it. It probably wouldn't be able to guide the energy into anything resembling a coherent beam without her, but at the moment, all she needed was a really big boom. "… … **Two minutes, master."**

"Ouch." Nanoha said. Two minutes was a really, really long time considering her present situation.

"**I'll try better. Beginning charge," **Raising Heart said apologetically, her familiar magical circle appearing around its tip and white-pink lines beginning to flow into the gem.

"Just do your best, okay?" Nanoha said consolingly, not voicing her thoughts, which were something along the lines of _Two minutes, how am I going to keep dodging these things for two minutes my knee is killing me and my shoulder is on fire and two minutes is a looooong time, and oh no here comes another one…_

"**Howling Moon."**

This time her left arm was the sacrifice, and went numb from the elbow down. She waggled her fingers experimentally, and found they moved all right; must have pinched a nerve or something. At least it wasn't broken, probably. _This is going badly. I won't make it the full two minutes at this rate. It's just so hard… my eyes and my ears are both lying to me, and they don't even have the good grace to tell me the same lie!, _said the little voice in the back of her head that existed to make her doubt herself.

_Okay, then._ Said the much louder voice in the front of her head that existed to beat up that other voice, take its lunch money, and make it go run away and hide in a corner._ If you can't trust your eyes and your ears, then why are you still listening to them? _

Taking flight, just to keep in motion and make herself a harder target, she clamped Raising Heart into her numb left hand as hard as she could and used her right hand to tear the ribbon off the front of her barrier jacket. Having clothes that grew back, she mused, was a big load off her mind. Ducking behind a building and hoping it would cover her for a moment, she shifted Raising Heart to her elbow and ripped the ribbon up to make the best earplugs she could manage. Then she closed her eyes.

Sight was a distraction. Sound was a distraction. And all that training to focus her mind had not been for nothing.

In her mind, she could still remember the battlefield. The position of every building was there, clear as day, like an outline in the blackness behind her eyelids. That was good, that was easy, none of that would change. The battlefield was static, it was simple to remember. Now all she needed was the dynamic aspect. Tsukuyomi, she knew, was watching her, waiting for an opening, and an opening appeared to exist.

There.

Nanoha Takamachi was not an idiot. If touch was the only sense she could reliably trust, then touch was the only sense she would use.

She didn't hear the enemy's spell call, she didn't see the silver light of the attack. But she felt the air move as the spell cut through it, and she felt her clothes ruffle as it came closer, and then she _moved. _And she felt the air move as the beam shot harmlessly through the spot where she had been.

From her vantage point below the girl, floating through maze of concrete and glass, Tsukuyomi's eyes narrowed. "She's found an opening so quickly? Interesting. Test it again when you've recharged, please." After about thirty seconds, Suijin again launched a bolt of silvery white light… and again, the odd bureau mage stepped through the air without so much as being grazed.

Tsukuyomi smiled. Maybe. It wasn't easy to tell; her mouth might have twitched or it might not have. "Yes, this girl is quite interesting after all. She reminds me somewhat of older sister, when she was a child.

"Suijin? I believe it is to time to change our pattern. Load a wide spread, rapid shot, full automatic."

"**Lunar Teardrops." **Her staff said. A dozen balls of silver light sprung into existence around the blue-clad mage.

"Lunar Teardrops, lock on… and fire." Tsukuyomi said.

Nanoha felt the air move again. Felt it move a lot, and from several different directions.

_Oh, dear_, she thought, and then there wasn't time to do anything but move, move, move.

To her credit, she dodged almost all of them. She wasn't exactly used to fighting blind and deaf, after all, and had really only thought of this plan as a crazy last resort. Frankly, it was a miracle that she had lasted through even one attack. To dodge two blasts by air pressure alone, then avoid all but two of the smaller, rapid-fire bursts? Amazing.

But being amazing didn't change the fact that two hammer blows slammed into her, one smashing her already-numb left arm and the other hitting right between the shoulder blades. She fell, bouncing off a building and colliding rather horribly with the street. _I should have shielded instead of trying to dodge. _Nanoha told herself. That, of course, had not been an option, given that her only chance of real survival lay with giving Raising Heart the opportunity to gather the needed magic, but pain makes people think funny things.

Tsukuyomi nodded in approval. "Good work, Suijin. Make certain she's incapacitated."

"**Target Locked. Howling…"**

"**Charge Complete. Time: 1 minute, 36 seconds." **Raising Heart announced.

"… Wait, what?" Tsukuyomi asked.

"Twenty-four seconds early. I knew you could do it," Nanoha said proudly, smiling despite her pain. She struggled to her feet, brandished her staff as best she could with one arm and no knowledge of her opponent's location, and shouted her challenge. "All right! It's my turn again, so get ready! Raising Heart!" She shouted, the gathered magic fairly bursting from her staff, the circle leaping into existence around her burning so brilliantly it was hard to look at it.

"**Starlight…" **Raising Heart began.

**"**… Breaker…" Nanoha continued, holding the staff high above her head with her one good arm.

"… _**Explosion!"**_ The two shouted in unison.

It was like someone had dropped a big, pink sun onto the streets of Tokyo.

The barely-stable power, gathered without the will of a mage to shape it, did not form a coherent beam. Rather, it simply _blew up_, sending out a massive spherical burst of pink and white light that struck out in all directions, burning away the illusionary mist cloud as it did.

"Suijin! Fire!" Tsukuyomi said, showing just the tiniest amount of panic, the first genuine emotion she'd shown in a very long time. The spell she'd prepared beforehand blasted forth into the rapidly approaching energy sphere… and was swallowed up, followed shortly by its creator.

It was a few seconds before the light cleared… and considerably longer before Nanoha's eyes finally adjusted to the absence of it. She was treated to the sight of Tsukuyomi, her frilled dress tattered and singed, struggling to her feet on unsteady limbs. She finally managed to find her legs, using a slightly cracked Suijin as a crutch. The cloud of hallucinatory mist was completely gone. Tsukuyomi looked to be saying something; Nanoha took out her impromptu earplugs to be sure.

"In… insufficient." The girl breathed, a slight growl to her voice from the effort. "Your power… was insufficient… to incapacitate me."

"No way… after all that?" Nanoha gasped between pants for breath.

"I… released my own spell directly into your assault. It blunted the force enough for me to… put up a partial barrier before impact." Tsukuyomi said. _But if I hadn't…_ she thought,_ I would not be standing right now. Just a child, and from a world the Bureau's files marked as not having achieved widespread magical proliferation, yet she has such power… who is this girl?_

"The damage… was notable." Tsukuyomi admitted. "Your powers continue to impress. But my combat ability remains at approximately 70%, while your injuries are obviously more severe. I am still more likely to emerge victorious."

"Well, we won't know until we try, right?" Nanoha said, dropping once more into a combat stance… as best she could, anyway.

"Confirmed. Suijin…"

**"WARNING! Wide area magical disturbance detected!" **Raising Heart warned.

"What?! What's happening?!" Nanoha snapped, looking around and wishing there were fewer buildings in the way. Meanwhile, Tsukuyomi's staff had a much different report to give.

"**Primary Mission Objective detected, thirty six degrees southeast." **Suijin intoned.

Tsukuyomi immediately took to the skies, scanning the Tokyo skyline for anything resembling her target. She was treated, then, to her first view of the one sight that anyone would recognize in Japan's capital, Tokyo Tower. While it lacked the cultural significance for her that it might have had for someone actually from Earth, it was still a fairly impressive sight.

The fact that it was glowing probably helped with that.


	4. Reinforcements

**Chapter 3: Reinforcements**

A dome of soft green light surrounded Tokyo Tower, pulsing slowly but intensely. The power there was obvious to anyone with knowledge of magic… not actively hostile, perhaps, but ancient and implacable.

"Ah. Ah-ha. That absurd burst of power must have caused the gate to partially activate. Fortuitous." Tsukuyomi said, taking in the sight of the glowing structure with mild satisfaction.

"HEY! We're not… done…" Nanoha snapped, following Tsukuyomi into the air, only to stop at the sight of a beloved national landmark lit up like a berserk magical Christmas tree.

"Yes, we are." Tsukuyomi said. "Dimensional Driver, upload."

"**Active, my lady." **Suijin said, a marble-sized green jewel appearing in the air near the staff's own sapphire headpiece. Instantly, it began to pulse in time with the energy dome surrounding the tower.

"Dimensional Drive unit serial #01, commence immediate gate interface and reprogramming. Function ready, target coordinates ready. Command execute." Tsukuyomi ordered.

"**Affirmative.**" The small green gem intoned, a voice that sounded like dozens of people speaking in unison. It flashed brightly, speeding off like a bullet towards the dome of light surrounding Tokyo Tower.

"Oh, no you don't!" Nanoha snapped. "Buster Mode!"

"**Buster Mode, set up." **Parts shifted and extended as Raising Heart shifted into its long range sniping mode.

"Divine Buster Extension! _Shoot_!" Nanoha ordered.

Yet even as the pink energy gathered in her weapon, Tsukuyomi made no move to stop her. She simply floated serenely and said, "Futile…"

The divine buster screamed after the tiny gem, rapidly closing the space even as the gem flew to the tower. But rather than strike the gem as Nanoha had intended, the pink light swerved around it, and despite Nanoha's best efforts to correct, continued on to strike the tower…

… only to disappear, completely and harmlessly, the instant it touched the strange dome of light.

"Wh-what the…?!" Nanoha sputtered.

"Dimensional Transfer Gate," Tsukuyomi said helpfully. "A device intended for teleportation, both interdimensional and interplanetary, on a scale of size and distance beyond any other system ever devised… to the best of my knowledge. The actual device is underground, most likely shifted slightly outside time directly beneath the tower. But, to create dimensional warps of such magnitude, an immensely powerful magical field must first be created that extends a considerable distance from the gate proper. Even partially active, this magical aura will absorb all but the most powerful of spells directed against it. Fully active…" Tsukuyomi trailed off, as the small gem reached the outer edges of the dome.

For the second time that day, it was as though someone had dropped a star onto the streets of Tokyo.

Emerald light flooded the time sealing barrier, wiping it away and shifting the city back into the normal flow of time as it did so. The citizenry, suddenly able to see the (to them) inexplicable luminescence, reacted with varying degrees of panic as they were shocked and blinded.

Nanoha hurriedly set down on a nearby roof to avoid being seen… not that anyone in particular was looking at her random patch of sky when Tokyo Tower had, apparently, just been nuked… and Tsukuyomi landed beside her. "Fully active, it is virtually indestructible. Any and all energy that touches its aura will be absorbed and used to increase the gate's own power. And the moment the driver reached the gate's aura and interfaced with its control core, fully active status was achieved.

"Primary Mission Objective: Complete. You fought very well, mage. But this is my victory."

* * *

Susanoo whistled at the explosion of emerald light shooting up into the skies above Tokyo. "Well, what do you know? Looks like Tsuku pulled it off."

"What the… what did you do?!" Fate demanded.

"Sorry to tell you this, but your friend either didn't get there in time or was defeated. Tsukuyomi activated the first gate. Which, unfortunately, means our fun is just about over... yeah, looks like I'm being summoned." He said, and even as he spoke a black rupture appeared in the sky behind him. "That would be my ride. See you around, Fatie!"

"Wait! We're not…" Fate began, before stopping as her vision swam. _No… no! I'm not done yet! I have to stay standing! _She thought furiously, struggling to order her thoughts and focus her eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" Susanoo asked, what sounded like genuine concern in his voice. "I tapped you pretty hard when your armor was weak, and head wounds are nasty. If you have a concussion, you should really get to a medic as soon as you can, before it gets any worse. I've seen good soldiers die because they underestimated a blow to the head and tried to keep fighting."

"I don't have that problem." Arf snarled, her eyes taking on a decidedly animalistic glow. "You think I'm going to just let you walk away after you hurt my master?!"

"Don't be stupid. If your master is hurt, then as a familiar your first duty should be to get her help, right? Don't get me wrong, if you insist on starting something I'm happy to play with you, but I'd prefer to face you at your best. Do you really think you'll be able to concentrate on the fight when your master can barely see straight?" Susanoo asked frankly.

"… Damn…" Arf growled.

"Arf… I'm fine… we can do this…" Fate muttered, her knees momentarily going weak and making a liar of her.

"No, you're not, and no you can't." Susanoo said. "Look, just stop. Otherwise you'll get yourself killed trying to fight with a concussion, and you'll probably get your familiar killed trying to shield you. I don't like killing people who can't fight back, so I'd prefer you not bring it to that."

"I…" Fate began.

"NO! I'm the one who accomplished his goals here today, and I'm the one that can still fight freely, so that makes me the winner!" Susanoo snapped. "And if I'm the winner, you're the loser, and the loser has no right to decide what happens to them. If the winner decides to spare your life, then you just shut up and let your life be spared gratefully! Geez, having such a disobedient apprentice makes my life a lot harder!"

"I am _not…"_ Fate began, only having to stop halfway through to fight off another wave of dizziness. "… … … fine." She grumbled.

"Better." Susanoo said approvingly. "It's good that you girls are so determined, but that won't help you if get yourself killed before you can finish what you want to finish. I'll be happy to fight you to the finish some other time when we're both back to full strength,"

The young man stepped into the black portal, then turned to take a deep bow and say, "Still… I really did enjoy the time I spent with you today, so I guess I should give you a more formal introduction, just to show my respect. I am Susanoo, the knight of the sky and the guardian god of thunder and lightning. I've judged you girls to be truly worthy opponents, so from this point on you are absolutely forbidden to let anyone else defeat you! See you later!" He said cheerfully, smiling with childlike joy.

The hole in the sky closed, and he was gone.

* * *

"What have you activated?" Nanoha asked, once the light had died down. She had to shout to be heard over the near-riot in the streets below, but at least Tokyo was still there to _have _such a riot.

"I've already explained that. It is nothing more or less than an advanced transportation device. It was constructed here a very long time ago, and it suited our purposes to activate it." Tsukuyomi said. "And, as promised, no lives were lost. Now, if you'll excuse me…" the girl stated, stepping towards the black portal that appeared beside her.

"Wait!" Nanoha implored. "What are you planning? What's going on here? Please, why can't you just tell me?"

"I truly am sorry, but I am sworn to secrecy on this matter. I do not relish it as my brother does, but I do have my honor as a warrior to uphold, and it will not permit me to disobey my orders. In fact, I would prefer that you avoid me in the future when I am on assignment, since I have no real desire to harm you. Oh, but feel free to examine the gate, if you wish… all command functions have been slaved to the Dimensional Drive Unit, so you cannot deactivate or alter any of the programming, but it is a fascinating device. And not a model I'm familiar with, I think… or am I familiar with it?" the girl asked nobody in particular. "Oh, I wish I had time to examine it to find out if I need to examine it… or is that the other way around? No, those are the same thing. But maybe it's for the best. What if I examined it and found out I'd already examined it? Then I'll have examined it twice, and I don't think I need to do that. Or do I…?"

"… huh?" Nanoha said.

"**Losing focus again, Master." **Raising Heart said.

"Oh! Oh! That's right! You can't just leave!" Nanoha said in a slightly panicked tone, holding her weapon up stubbornly. "If it's just about your 'pride as a warrior', then let's make a bargain. If I can defeat you, you'll tell me your plans as a prize for being a better warrior than you."

Tsukuyomi turned to face her, regarding her like someone might look at a slide under a microscope. "Your left arm is crippled, and your right leg is at the very least damaged enough that it is not reliable. Your barrier jacket has suffered significant damage from the strike you took to your back, and it would not surprise me to find that you have broken at least one rib.

"The damage I have suffered, in comparison, is essentially superficial. I am tired and I am in pain, but my limbs are still quite functional and my armor is largely intact. In addition, your staff is still configured for long-range sniping, and I am only two meters from you, leaving you at a disadvantage in any initial exchange. Your victory at this point is unlikely, to say the least."

"We won't know until we try, right?" Nanoha said, her determined tone not wavering.

Tsukuyomi said, "Very well. We will continue this battle to its conclusion." She then turned, took two steps and walked into the black opening, which immediately began to close.

Nanoha thought about that for a second.

"HEY! No fair running away! And stop saying one thing and doing another!" Nanoha protested.

Tsukuyomi tilted her head slightly. "I'm sorry if I've insulted you, but I don't really enjoy combat, and my mission here is completed, so..." She shrugged.

Nanoha sighed, a little sad that she'd been outmaneuvered in such an obvious (and frankly, silly) way. Apparently Tsukuyomi's 'pride as a warrior' was both extremely small and only applied to a very limited range of subjects.

As the portal continued to shrink, Tsukuyomi said, "Mage… what is your name? I never learned it…"

"Nanoha. Nanoha Takamachi."

Tsukuyomi's face turned thoughtful. "Well, you already know my name, but formalities should be observed." She turned back to face Nanoha and curtsied, managing to look somewhat elegant in spite of the disheveled state of her dress. "I am Tsukuyomi, the knight of the moon who reigns as a guardian goddess over the ocean. Fare well in your future endeavors, Lady Takamachi. I sincerely hope we do not meet again on the battlefield."

Nanoha stared at the empty space for a few seconds, before finally falling to her knees. It hurt to admit it, but it was probably for the best that the girl had left when she had. "Ugh. It's been awhile since I've gotten so beat up…" She said to nobody in particular. Silently, she added, _ Fate? Fate, are you there?_

_It's Arf, Nanoha. Fate's got a little headache, so she doesn't want to think too hard right now. _Arf replied telepathically. _What happened over there?_

_I… well, let's just say things didn't go quite as planned._

_I figured out that much. What do you suppose we should do now? _Arf asked.

_Well, _I _think you should call the Bureau. In fact, it might have been a good idea to have done that _before _you ran off after the strange mages. I mean, if you'd done that instead of just flying away to save the day by yourselves, maybe Arisa and Suzuka… who, by the way, are apparently smarter than all three of you combined… wouldn't have had to break half the traffic laws in Japan to make their chauffeur get to Nanoha's house and find a communicator that could reach the _Asura, _and then maybe reinforcements would have arrived in time to make a difference_. _But you know, that's only a suggestion. Maybe you'd like to do something entirely different and much less intelligent._ An extremely familiar and annoyed masculine voice interjected.

Nanoha, eyes wide, noticed that a shadow had fallen across her, almost as though something was suddenly floating between her and the sun. Of course, this was completely and totally untrue.

Some_one_ was floating between her and the sun.

Nanoha, her face frozen in an expression that was only _slightly _terrified_, _turned somewhat stiffly to look above herself. "Oh. H-hi, Chrono…" she said, seeing Chrono Harlaown, currently Captain of the cruiser _Asura _following Admiral Lindy's transfer to headquarters, floating there. He didn't look amused.

"For non-mages, Arise and Suzuka have become surprisingly sensitive, actually. They were actually able to notice when the time seal barriers went up, even from so far away, and they got worried about you. And since they were worried, Admiral Lindy was worried. And since she was worried, _I _had to take the _Asura, _and come all the way here. And we were _too late. _Because you _didn't call us_." Chrono said in a very, very cold tone.

"Heh… heh…" Nanoha chuckled somewhat nervously.

_Chrono sounds a little angry. _Arf thought.

_He looks it, too…_ Nanoha replied.

_He IS it. _Chrono thought. _Field team, if you could collect agent-cadet Harlaown? I've got agent-cadet Takamachi. _It may have been Nanoha's imagination, but it definitely sounded like he was emphasizing the word 'cadet' in both instances._ They both need some medical attention, after which I will be having a long talk with them about what happened here and the many ways in which I am less forgiving than my mother._

* * *

There were good and bad things about being on the _Asura. _For the good side, the medical facilities were excellent. After only about an hour, Nanoha could barely even tell she'd been injured, and Fate wasn't even dizzy anymore.

The bad thing was that Chrono was the captain, and he still wasn't very happy with them.

Apparently, being the top-ranking officer on the ship had affected Chrono a little bit. For one thing, he seemed to be under a little more stress, which made him slightly temperamental. For another, nobody on board the vessel outranked him, which meant he had to stand on decorum far less.

These things didn't add up well.

"You see these?" he said, holding up Raising Heart and Bardiche. "Very high quality devices. Some of the best I've ever seen. Useful for a wide range of functions, both combat and non-combat related. They even have devices to enable long-range communication built right in. So for example, if you were on a long-range reconnaissance mission, you could quickly contact your base or ship. Or perhaps if you are in a combat zone, and need to call in an orbital strike on a heavily defended position. Or if you find a _dangerous situation_ involving _potentially hazardous unknown artifacts _and _potentially hostile unknown mages, _rather than deciding to just _run in_, you could use those communicators to let your _superior officer know that you_ _might soon be in mortal danger_."

"S-sorry, Chrono…" Nanoha said for what seemed like the three-hundredth time, although she still sounded just as nervous as the first. She was really starting to miss Admiral Lindy, weird taste in tea and all.

"We weren't expecting them to put up such a good fight. We admittedly made a few mistakes..." Fate said in the same mildly terrified tone.

"Oh, I'll say." Chrono said darkly. Then he sighed. "Buuuuuuut… I suppose I can't fault you for assuming you could deal with the problem on your own, given your records, and I really do need you two in the field if I'm going to solve this problem quickly..."

Fate smiled warmly, "Thank you, big broth-" she began.

"Yes, considering these factors, I believe that I will forestall your disciplinary review until after the conclusion of this new case." Chrono said.

"-er." Fate finished glumly.

"Geez, who put a stick up his…" the puppy on the end of Fate's bed muttered.

"You're speaking out loud, Arf." Chrono said very, very coldly.

"OH! Um… it's just… um… I'm trying to use as little energy as possible so Fate can heal faster, and I'm a little groggy, and I certainly wasn't talking to _you _Chrono, you're Fate's big brother and have I mentioned I've always thought of you as sort of a big brother myself, such a strong and confident authority figure…" Arf babbled.

"Stop."

"Stopping." Arf agreed.

"Okay, girls. Now that you're not dropping on your feet, I think it's time for our mission briefing. Amy?" Chrono said. A small viewscreen descended from the ceiling, and in it appeared the familiar smiling face of the _Asura's _executive officer.

"Fate! Nano! Hiya!" Amy said, waving enthusiastically. "Oooh, Arf, I didn't see you there! You're still as cute as ever, I see!"

"Amy. Stop being chipper. You're ruining my image." Chrono said, but unfortunately the greeting had already reached critical mass. Sighing sadly, he sat down and waited a few minutes for the four girls to get reacquainted. He looked at his glove for a few minutes after that while they started discussing when the trial for the Wolkenritter would be complete and how Hayate's physical therapy was going. He examined a loose ceiling plate while they talked about how Nanoha and Fate's education was progressing.

Then Amy started to relate the beginning of what he recognized as a situation that had occurred his first day of command, one which had involved a visiting Admiral, a broken port engine, and a stow-away insect whose sting caused intense hallucinations. And knowing Amy, if she began sharing that, she might get to the part where Chrono had gotten stung and …

"AMY!" He snapped, fighting his very hardest to fight down the redness in his cheeks. "We don't even have latrine duty, but I swear that if you finish that sentence I will _land us on a planet and dig some latrines just to make you clean them!_"

"Hee, hee! I'll tell you later, okay?" Amy said, winking at Nanoha and Fate.

"No. You. Will. Not!" Chrono informed her.

"Amy, you shouldn't tease him," Fate said warmly. Then her smile turned impish. "Of course, maybe…"

"Would you two like to have your disciplinary action waived? Because I suddenly don't feel like punishing you anymore," Chrono said rapidly.

"What a thoughtful and kind brother you are, Chrono. I'll be sure to tell mom how nice you were to me." Fate said in an utterly angelic tone.

"What a nice boy he is." Nanoha said in the same artificially sweet voice.

Amy smirked. "You girls can thank me later."

Chrono sighed, that old familiar blush rising up full force. Weren't Captains supposed to be in command? "All right, if we're all finished with our insubordination, would it kill us to actually focus on business?"

"Well, on that front, I'm honestly not sure how much help I'll be. I downloaded all the combat and visual data from Raising Heart and Bardiche, and frankly, there's not a whole lot I can work with." As Amy spoke, images of Tsukuyomi and Susanoo appeared on the screen, still-frames from the fight. "Neither these two nor their devices are registered on any wanted list or roster of known mages in TSAB territory. This means that they aren't registered with us, but also that they haven't committed any crimes in the past."

"Or they just weren't caught." Chrono said grimly.

"Point." Amy admitted. "As for their objectives, this 'Dimensional Transference Gate' Nanoha said they activated… well, we have only their word that it actually does what they say it does, because our sensors won't penetrate that weird barrier it's generating. It _is _slightly out of sync with this dimension, so at least we can be certain that at least none of the Earth governments will be able to figure out what it does… which is good, because if the Japanese newsfeeds are any indicator, they are _very _confused. Oh, and good news! Since we know so little about this, we've asked for an expert consultant, and Command approved. Chief Librarian Scrya should be arriving within two hours to inspect the site personally!"

"Oh, Yuuno! That's great!" Nanoha cheered.

"So the old gang's back together? All we need now is our mom to show up to take command from Chrono." Fate said teasingly.

"I do _not _need my mother looking over my shoulder, Fate." Chrono grumbled. "But it's good that Librarian Scrya will be assisting in this case."

"Really? I always got the impression you two weren't terribly close…" Amy said doubtfully.

"Well, the actual gate is apparently underground. Tiny vermin like Chief Librarian Scrya are good at slipping into small spaces, so he'll be able to get to the main body of the device. Maybe we can mount a little camera on his head to let us see it. Perhaps put it into a small pink ribbon that we make him wear. All for the good of the mission, of course," Chrono said in his most deadpan tone.

"Chrono, don't be a jerk." Amy admonished him.

"That's _Captain _Chrono. _Captain _Chrono, don't be a jerk." Chrono corrected her.

"Captain Chrono, don't be a jerk!" Amy, Nanoha, Fate, and Arf repeated obediently.

"All right, now if we're done with our second little bout of insubordination, may I continue the debrief?" Chrono asked. When nobody protested except for slight giggles, he said "All right then. While we don't know the mages identities or origins, but here's what we _do _know. Judging by their average skills and energy output, both of these mages would be classed as at least AAA by bureau standards, more probably S or even S+… and of course, we don't know if what we've seen represents their full potential. But two things stand out. First, their magic symbols.

"Both of them shared a symbol, indicating a shared basic magical style. But it's a six-point star, unbound; it's got some similarities to the Midchildan circle, but not close enough to be the same school, and that was enough to convince me to run a check on it. In-depth scans confirm it's no magic I've ever heard of; the equations and formulae involved are, basically, insane. There are some similarities to common magical schools, but for the most part their spells appear to be just a random mass of numbers that every bit of education I have tells me shouldn't work at all. Further, users of the same magical style tend to have a similar focus, but the girl seemed to be a mid- to long- range type, while the boy specialized in close combat magic. Most magical techniques aren't that versatile; Mid-style will never be as powerful as Belkan at close range, and vice versa. It's troubling that not only are they using a style I've never seen before, but that it seems to be adaptable to an unusual extreme.

"And then, there's this." Chrono said grimly, running footage from both fights of the two assailants utilizing the turbines located on the shafts of their devices.

"Yes… that confused me for a moment too, but in function, it's not really different from the cartridge system…" Fate said.

"Yes. That's the problem." Amy interjected. "It appears to be similar in basic principle to the Starlight Breaker Nanoha uses. That turbine spinning signifies that the weapon is drawing in ambient magical energy, which it then compresses and injects into the device to give a sudden, explosive increase in power."

"So it is just like a Belkan cartridge system, just one that never runs out. Yeah, I can see that getting annoying in a long battle…" Nanoha observed.

Chrono chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "Yes, in function, it's an irritant, but hardly a game-breaker. The problem is in the theory behind it."

"Hmmm? How so?" Nanoha asked.

"I think I get where Chrono is coming from." Fate said, her own expression shifting towards worry. "Arf, you've made me cartridges before, when requisition queues were too long. How long would you say it takes to produce one?"

"Between the compression of the energy into the casing and the rituals needed to ensure it releases safely into a device instead of just blowing up? Roughly thirty minutes per round." Arf said, her own expression mirroring Fate's concern as best a puppy could.

Nanoha's eyes widened. "Oh."

"You get it." Chrono said. "These people have somehow cut that complex, thirty minute ritual down to a two-second charge sequence. We can't do that. _Nobody _can do that. That technology is decades beyond anything the Bureau, the most advanced magical power in known existence, has access to." Chrono said grimly. "Combined with Fate's suspicions that they may be artificial life-forms of some kind, I'd have to say that not only the gate and the gem, but these mages themselves may qualify as Lost Logia. Even if the actual utility isn't anything special, the fact that unknown technology is in the hands of clearly hostile mages of considerable power, and they are actively seeking additional lost artifacts... if we don't nip this in the bud quickly, we could have a serious crisis on our hands."

"… First gate." Arf said.

"Eh?'

"That guy said they'd activated the 'first gate'. So there must be more dimensional whatevers, right? All we have to do is get them when they go for the next one, right? Now that we know what to look for, there's no way they can get away from us with all this help!" Arf said.

"Hee. It's hard to take your planning seriously when you're so cute." Fate said, drawing the puppy into a hug. "But you're right. We've got the _Asura, _and we won't be caught by surprise again."

"And really," Nanoha said, trying to join in the good cheer, "There's only two of them, right?"

Oh, optimism.

* * *

On the dead world, a pair of feminine eyes widened in surprise at the appearance of the two disheveled and battered young figures in front of them.

Tsukuyomi dropped to her knees without hesitation. "All hail the Twilight Queen." She said.

"Hiya, queen!" Susanoo said cheerfully. "Oh, is Ammy ready to wake up? Can we watch?" Tsukuyomi, discreetly and elegantly, punched him in the back of the knee. "OUCH! I mean, oh, yeah, um… all hail, your majesty!" He said, dropping his other knee to the ground to match the one knocked out from under him.

"Oh, my." The Twilight Queen said. "You… you look rather worse off than I was expecting. When you were gone for three hours, I'd assumed you had just wandered away from each other and gotten lost, but apparently you met some resistance."

"Er… um… yes. That's all that happened." Susanoo said, neglecting to mention that they had, in fact, spent about two-and-a-half of those three hours being lost.

"Oh, my." The Twilight Queen said again. "Perhaps I should have prepared medical help? I didn't think you'd actually be damaged…"

"The damage is not serious, and self-repair is progressing in accordance with normal parameters. The mission was not compromised." Tsukuyomi stated.

"Well, of course not. Your loyal guardians wouldn't fail in their first assignment after so long!" Susanoo replied, smiling like a kid on Christmas. "But we did get to meet some interesting people. It was really fun!"

"How nice for you. I imagine Amaterasu will feel quite left out when she finally finishes her repairs." The queen said, running her fingers along a floating chunk of black crystal nearly 2 meters tall as she spoke. When her fingers touched it, it briefly illuminated to clearly display an attractive young women; not visibly older than her early twenties and with the slender build of a runner or swimmer. Her eyes were closed, but she had the tattoo of three interlocked crescents on her forehead, and her long, straight hair was the same shade of bright blue as Susanoo and Tsukuyomi's. She was, at the moment, wearing nothing except for a pendant resembling a bright red metallic arrowhead. The Twilight Queen withdrew her hand, allowing the crystal to fade back into darkness.

"So?" the Twilight Queen asked expectantly. "Your official report can wait, but since you had a good time, why not tell me all about it? Your leader isn't quite ready to wake up just yet, but I think she likes hearing the voices of her precious younger siblings."

**Author's Note:**

**Sooooo, it was pointed out to me that, timeline-wise, Chrono should still be a good few years from his captaincy.**

**Um... well... heh, heh... uh...**

**Whoops?**

**Yeah that was a mistake on my part. But then, I'm guessing that in the canon timeline, representatives of a fallen civilization didn't invade the universe half a year after _A's. _I did say I was playing fast and loose with canon... I really would have preferred to be doing so _on purpose_, but since I don't have the motivation to go back and change that or go forward and change it in the other chapters I already have written, for now it looks like this has suddenly become a bizarre alternate universe where people get promotions early.**

**Ah, well. Chrono deserved a promotion, didn't he? He's a decent guy.**

**Also, I should probably be calling the ship the _Arthra, _not the _Asura, _but my anime stories have always included a mish-mash of official and fan-based translations, and I see no reason to change that pattern now.**


	5. Ancient History

**Chapter 4: Ancient History**

"Excellent work on activating the first gate." The Twilight Queen said. "But I'm concerned that you had such difficulty with a few common mages. Are you certain that you were fully repaired? You were offline for a very long time."

"No core deficiencies detected." Tsukuyomi stated.

"I was as good as I'm gonna get, given the circumstances." Susanoo agreed. "They were just really talented, is all, and maybe we're a little rusty. It's been awhile since anyone posed a challenge."

"Well, we knew we were going to come into conflict with the Bureau eventually. And in the absolute worst case scenario, we can implement a watered-down version of the Rebirth with only the single gate."

"**Plan success probability estimated at only 23.5% with current resources." **Yggdrasil warned. "**Every additional active gate will drastically increase the potential of achieving Rebirth."**

"I did say 'worst case'. Susanoo and Tsukuyomi should be able to secure at least one more gate before the Bureau assigns enough resources to stopping them to pose a credible threat… and by then, Amaterasu will have completed her regeneration," The Twilight Queen said.

"Have a little faith in us, Yggy!" Susanoo said cheerfully. "We are the guardian gods of this world, after all. We won't let it stay floating in this black murky… murk… forever!"

"**Lightning Unit, I was merely noting the risks inherent in continuing her majesty's plan with only a single Dimensional Transfer point under our control. It was in no way an indication that I lack confidence in your combat abilities."**

Susanoo rolled his eyes. "_When _are you going to start calling me by name?"

"**I refer to your by your appropriate designation, and will continue to do so. And I once again request that you cease referring to me as 'Yggy'. I have informed you in the past that not only is this not my proper designation, but it is not actually a word in any of the eight major languages of the Empire, nor any of the languages we have recently assimilated from the Time/Space Administration." **The computerized voice stated.

"Hee, hee! Never change, Yggy."

"**Unacceptable. This unit is designed specifically to learn from experience in order to avoid repeating previous errors and miscalculations and to be able to continue efficiently managing a constantly changing population. The ability to change is an essential part of my program.**"

"Susanoo. Please stop arguing with the computer. It is extremely tedious." The Twilight Queen said in a weary voice.

"But Lil…"

"You're not supposed to call me by my name at all, much less my childhood nickname!" the Twilight Queen protested. "It's protocol! 'Your majesty', 'Twilight Queen', even 'Queenie' is… slightly… more appropriate."

"But I like calling you 'Lil'. It's pretty."

"… Fine. How about just my first name then?"

"But 'Enlil' is so long…"

"It's _one syllable more!_" Enlil protested. The problem, she mused, with having guardians that didn't age, was that it was extremely hard to make someone who'd known you when you were in diapers actually stand on ceremony around you in private. Particularly when he was a damned idiot. Fortunately, Tsukuyomi was able to pick up on her queen's distress, and discreetly and elegantly elbowed her brother in the kidney.

"OUCH! I mean… um… of course, your majesty."

Enil sighed and rubbed her temples. "What's the point? You'll be calling me whatever you feel like by this time tomorrow anyway. I had an entire lifetime to break you of your bad habits and I couldn't manage it. Why would I succeed now? So go right ahead. Call me what you wish. Argue pointlessly with Yggdrasil. As long as you do your job, I don't care anymore."

"Hey, thanks! You always were one of the better rulers. Thanks for noticing that I obviously can't stop until Yggy agrees to call me by name and declare its undying respect for me. I have my pride, both as a warrior, and as a man!" Susanoo proclaimed, pointing grandly towards the horizon… or where the horizon would have been had they been outside.

"You will never succeed." Tsukuyomi stated mildly.

"I don't know about that. I have a lot of determination." Susanoo said.

"**I literally possess infinite patience. During the time you were inactive, I spent 25,000 years contemplating the nuances of a single carbon atom." **

"Perhaps, but I'm much larger than a carbon atom!"

Silence.

"It's logic!" He claimed.

"Just… just please go get some rest and repairs," Enlil said, motioning to a pair of crystals identical to the one that the unconscious Amaterasu was slumbering in. "A few hours ought to get you back to fighting strength."

"Your highness. Before we leave, I have one more detail to report." Tsukuyomi interjected.

"And that would be…?"

"Suijin, please show the image I asked you to save." Tsukuyomi stated. The device projected a small image; the four girls on their picnic. "Look at her, your majesty…"

The Twilight Queen's jaw dropped. "What the-?! But that's… oh. OH. That conniving … how could she keep this from me?!" she sputtered. "I swear, if this is one of her schemes…"

"What? Even Administration mages have to eat. What's odd there?" Susanoo asked.

"You… you really don't see it." The Queen asked in a tone of stunned disbelief.

"See what?"

"Really. You really don't."

"See _what?_"

In a tone that indicated a severe headache, the Twilight Queen said, "Go to sleep, Susanoo."

"Okay!" Susanoo said cheerfully.

"Was this information relevant…?" Tsukuyomi asked once he had stepped into his regeneration crèche.

"I don't know if it's relevant, but I'm definitely angry I didn't already know it." Enlil said. "I'm going to go have a little chat with our guest…"

* * *

"Well, it's official." Yuuno Scrya said. "It's basically just a really big, interdimensional bus."

"… eh?" Nanoha said elegantly.

"Well, I can't use most of my normal study techniques on it. It absorbs search magic, probes, everything. But in spite of the alien design, I can recognize enough parts to know that, despite its size, it's just a teleportation device."

"Then they were telling the truth? They sure went to a lot of trouble for something so… basic." Fate said.

"Oh, it's not basic." Yuuno said with a grin. "In fact, this may be the greatest archaeological find of my career. Well, my former career, anyway."

"Very good," Chrono said solemnly. "We could get you some clean wood chips as a reward."

Yuuno smiled cheerfully, but just the slightest hint of malice shone through. "Good idea. When the Midchilda Academy of Science gives me my award for the single greatest discovery of our generation, ensuring my name will live on for centuries while you are forgotten, I can use the wood chips to make sort of a cushion for it."

Nanoha couldn't contain a slightly shocked giggle, and the other girls joined her. She hadn't been able to spend more than a few minutes in person with Yuuno over the last couple months. Apparently, being in charge of something had done him some good. Just a few months, and he already seemed a good deal more relaxed than she remembered.

On the other hand, they'd spoken over a comm channel just last week, and he hadn't seemed this relaxed then. He'd seemed more like he wasn't getting enough sleep. Vaguely, Nanoha wondered if it was still impressive if the reason he was so happy was that he was taking a _break _from his job…

"Now, if we're done wasting time…" Chrono began.

"You started it."

"… perhaps you could tell us exactly _why _this… thing is so very special?" he finished.

The five mages, after receiving Chief Scrya's transport feed, had made their way down to Tokyo to let the archaeologist/librarian get a look at exactly what all the fuss was about. This had been a fantastic pain because the gate was very, very deep underground and magic didn't work anywhere remotely nearby it (there had been some concern about Arf, but apparently the magic that animated her was passive enough that it wasn't stolen. She did claim to have a headache, though). And since this included the barriers for shunting non-mages slightly out of sync with them, dimension-wise, it meant they essentially had to go to the city limits of Tokyo, dig down, and work their way there on foot under the city through a series of catacombs that technically shouldn't have existed. Yuuno theorized that their powers allowed them to see through what was probably an illusionary field the gate created, and that where they saw caves, most people and sensor equipment would have seen solid and useless rock, not worth excavating.

He then admitted that he had no idea how such a mechanism would actually work, and he was in fact just guessing as to its nature, which had not filled the expedition with confidence. Luckily, they hadn't sprung any lethal traps as they made their way, which was always a plus.

The actual gate itself did not very closely resemble a gate. In fact, it looked more like a satellite dish than anything else, albeit one that was roughly the size of a small town. Most of the surface was covered in runes and magical symbols that even Yuuno admitted he'd never seen before, all of which were glowing and pulsing in time with the green gem that floated serenely and immovably above the main dish.

"Well, for starters, it is the most complex teleportation device I have _ever_ seen, and I can't see most of it. The majority of the mechanism is embedded in the bedrock, and I'm guessing it probably goes down quite a distance into the planet's crust; probably to draw in geothermal energy to augment the power supply. The glyphs are nothing I can translate, but the telepathic interface is partially accessible, so I was able to get a little bit of data. Despite the name, it's less of a 'Gate' and more of a giant, interdimensional version of one of those crane games. It sends a transmission beam to what it wants to teleport, breaks it down into energy, and then transmits them where it's supposed to go. You don't actually have to ever go near the 'gate' to be moved by it, and you don't go through anything; it reaches out, picks you up, and moves you." Yuuno explained. "And both its range and the size of the objects it can handle are just absurd. This isn't the sort of device you would use to transport a person from Earth to the _Asura_. This is the sort of mechanism you would use if you wanted to teleport_ Japan_ to another _world_."

Chrono whistled in appreciation. "No wonder it needs all the power it can suck in. Teleportation on that scale must take ludicrous amounts of energy."

"Oh, it gets better. This magic is very hard to analyze because it keeps eating the spells I'm trying to analyze it with, but from what I can tell of the structure itself and the surrounding area… this dish is old. _Very _old. Possibly predating the emergence of sentient life on this planet… or at least what was generally _thought _to be the emergence of sentient life on this planet. At least two hundred _millennia_, possibly more. And it _still works!" _Yuuno said, sounding far more excited than he probably should have. "I'm willing to bet it was actually built on the surface a long time ago, probably before Japan was even an island, and then abandoned. All these tunnels were likely made by its own AI, teleporting rocks into the ocean and such to keep itself from being completely buried."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow. "How is it still functioning?"

Yuuno smiled like a kid in a candy store. "I have _no _idea! Everything I know about magical artifacts suggests that the spells making it work and holding it together should have run out _long _before now. I haven't a clue who or what could possibly enchant something so durably!"

Chrono walked up to the giant glowing contraption and laid a hand on it. "So ancient… we might very well be looking at an artifact from the first magical civilization _ever_. This really is incredible."

"I only wish I'd actually been one to actually find it. I'll be sure to give 'Tsukuyomi' proper credit for locating it in the book I'm most definitely writing about this dig," Yuuno agreed. "Now, for the bad news."

"Of course." Arf said. "It wouldn't be any fun without bad news."

"It's an incredibly powerful teleportation unit… that we can't do anything with, because of _that_." He said grimly, pointing at the green jewel floating above it, which had apparently tunneled itself all the way down through the streets to get there.

"Yeah… I was curious about that too. It does seem familiar…" Fate said.

"It should, for a lot of reasons. First and foremost, it's similar in a lot of ways to a Jewel Seed. Not as powerful, but definitely more controllable. It actually seems to have a device-level AI built into the dimensional matrix, and it's completely locked out all of the command functions to insure that only one user can access the Gate. It won't tell me who, and it's actually rather rude about it, but I think we can safely assume that the master would be whoever sent those two mages to plant it here."

Nanoha nodded in agreement. "Both of them had clearly been ordered by _someone_ not to talk about certain things with us, although they… well, they weren't very good at it. They're sort of flighty."

"Well, their master clearly knows his or her way around programming. This… Dimension Driver, right? It's completely locked me out of the gate's command routines. I could maybe break it if I had a full team and six months to work; but as things stand, I'm not able to access anything but the most basic of files. To make matters worse, it's giving the gate a steady stream of energy, probably to increase either its range or the mass it can transport."

Chrono's eyes widened. "I thought you said it could already move a small country?"

"Japan is not 'small', Chrono." Nanoha said offhandedly.

"I'm sorry. I thought you said it could already move a country that might look small to the casual observer, but is filled with more culture and spirit than a nation with ten times the land?" Chrono said.

"Better."

"It _can_." Yuuno said. "So apparently, someone wants to move something really, really, really huge… or something really, really, really far away… or both."

"Like what?" Chrono wondered. "My first thought was 'invasion fleet', but ships travelling through dimensional space are largely undetectable anyway and can already travel fast enough to manage most strategies I can think of. But what else would it be good for?"

"Honestly? My best guess would say its original purpose was economic or domestic, not military." Yuuno said. "You could use this thing to transport millions of tons of goods and supplies on a daily basis, and considering how durable it is, it would probably be cheaper in the long run to just build a network of them than it would be to maintain a fleet of supply ships. I guess if you really wanted something militaristic to do with it, you could move ground forces onto a planet past orbital defenses... but that could go really wrong, really fast."

Chrono nodded. "No matter how good the teleporter, it can still be jammed if there're magical wards at the landing site. Plus, you would need a perfectly accurate map of the enemy world to avoid materializing your invasion force in the heart of a storm cluster or inside solid objects."

Fate said, "I hate to say it, but is their goal really important?"

"Of course it is! We can't reason with them if we don't know what they want!" Nanoha said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, not really." Chrono admitted.

"Hey!"

"Nanoha, I know you disagree, but even if their goals are entirely benevolent, they still assaulted two Bureau mages and activated an unregistered lost Logia. Those are crimes, and our priority is arresting them. We can attempt to determine their purposes later."

"... All right, I guess you have a point..." Nanoha said doubtfully. "But..."

"It's okay." Fate said, patting her on the shoulder. "Nanoha wouldn't be Nanoha if she didn't try to save everyone she possibly could."

That brought a smile back to Nanoha's face.

"Um... should I go on?" Yuuno asked worriedly, looking at the two girls.

"Hmmm?"

"Well, you two seem so happy, and I don't want to spoil it, and..." Yuuno began.

Nanoha winced. "What's wrong? Something's wrong, isn't it?"

"Well, you see, beyond the similarities to the Jewel Seeds, there's another reason you should recognize that Driver. I asked you to pick it up for me last week."

That took the smile right off Nanoha's face.

"… what?!" Nanoha snapped. "That was… it _is! _It's one of those little gems we took from those very uncooperative pirates! I thought they were put into storage…"

"The _Vishnu _had a massive computer failure during its return cruise. No fatalities, but all ship computers were wiped clean and, among other things, the cargo hold was accidentally jettisoned into dimensional space. None of the contents could be recovered, and it was believed they fell into a subspace rift. At the time, we assumed the problem to be sabotage, given that one of the prisoners had somehow escaped from his cell and accessed a remote terminal… but now I'm beginning to think that while it _was _sabotage, we've gotten the source very wrong." Chrono said.

"Ooooh, Chrono!" Nanoha said, sounding genuinely mad for the first time. "That was our case! An item we were supposed to have dealt with goes missing and you don't even tell us?! And then you yell at us for not asking for _your _help!"

Chrono arched one eyebrow. "Like I said, we didn't know there was a real problem. Things that fall into subspace rifts generally never come out, and at the time we believed the case to be solved and the suspect in custody. I didn't ask for your assistance in the investigation because there was no real investigation to conduct."

"Chrono. Even if we couldn't have done anything to help, we still should have been informed when one of our own cases went wrong." Fate said.

"You may have a point. I just didn't see the need to worry you, that's all. I'm sorry." Chrono said earnestly.

"Well… all right. Apology accepted." Nanoha said. Not that there had ever been any real doubt it would be, of course, but her saying it definitely cleared the tension.

"You say all the computers were wiped clean?" Arf said.

"Yes. Navigation, logs, tactical, everything was a blank slate. Some of that software was incredibly complex, too. It'll take the better part of a month to reload everything."

"Then it wasn't those doofuses we beat up the other day." Arf said. "They couldn't have hacked a shoe. An ancient, super-advanced magical civilization, now…"

"That would explain how people from a 200,000 year old civilization spoke the local languages, too. They stole all of our language files and translation software." Chrono agreed.

"If that's the case, they can activate a maximum of four more of these gates." Yuuno said. "There were only five Drivers recovered from the pirate's base, right Nanoha?"

"I only remember five, yes." She said, nodding once.

"The problem is we don't know where the other gates are. It's likely they're buried and dormant, like this one was," Chrono pointed out.

"Well, we can assume that they aren't on Earth, or anywhere near it. This single gate has enormous range, and it could easily cover pretty much any world within a week's travel from here on the _Asura._" Yuuno offered.

"Well, it's good that they won't be causing more trouble here… I don't think we want any more strange green explosions of light on the news. But that does mean that we won't know where to look until those mages make another incursion from wherever they're hiding." Nanoha said.

"It… it shouldn't be too hard to track with the _Asura's _sensors, I'd think. It looked more like some kind of spatial tear, not normal teleportation; I've never seen anything like it before, personally. Bardiche should still have the readings, and they ought to be fairly unique, hopefully." Fate ventured.

Chrono shrugged. "Sounds like as good a plan as any I could come up with. I'm going to return to the _Asura _and set up a search program."

"Could you use an extra set of hands? I'm pretty good with that sort of thing." Yuuno offered.

"Hmm? I expected you'd want to be down here for the rest of the month poking things."

"This is interesting, I'll admit. But it's been here for a long time, so I doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon. Besides, it will screw up our communications quite a bit, and if you need me for something in a hurry I'd prefer to be somewhere I can actually be contacted."

"Well, then, you can… actually, no. Now that I think about it, I think we should probably interrogate the pirates that stole the Drivers in the first place. Where they got them from, any symbols or clues that were on the container, that sort of thing. You'd know what to ask thing better than me."

"… … … … you want me to interrogate criminals? They're not going to be intimidated by a ten year old librarian, and they _really _won't be intimidated by a ferret." Yuuno said doubtfully.

"Take Arf with you. She's scary." Fate offered.

"Ooooh, I get to sweat the perps! It's just like TV!" Arf said delightedly.

"Nanoha, Fate, you might as well resume your daily lives until we get a hit. The _Asura _will be holding in Earth orbit until we get a better lead, and Amy will contact you when you're needed. If you have any concerns or problems, you know where to reach us. But stay alert… we could need to pull you on a moment's notice."

Nanoha sighed. "Now, I just have to explain this to my family. It could be tricky…"

_**Twenty minutes later…**_

"So," Shirou Takamachi said, "Shinto gods have come from the past to activate a bunch of magic teleporters so they can invade the Earth. And you and Fate are going to fight them with your friends the shape-shifting ferret who used to live in our house, Fate's dog, and the spaceship captain. So I need to be ready with an excuse in case you miss some school. Is that the gist of it?"

"Well… that's maybe a little oversimplified, but… basically, yes." Nanoha said.

"… … … you know, honey, I respect how responsible and independent you've become with this mage job, and I'm glad that you love it so much… but I really kind of hate that this sort of thing no longer sounds strange to me." Shirou said sadly.

"Yeah, Arisa had a similar reaction." Nanoha said, patting him on the back comfortingly. "But on the bright side, explaining these situations to you has become a lot easier."

* * *

The Twilight Queen walked… well, more like _marched…_ to the guest wing of the palace.

"I honestly cannot believe that woman. She can learn our language in _three months,_ master our most advanced systems in a matter of hours, and all after waking up from a _coma… _but she cannot figure out that _intelligence should be shared?! _No… no it's not that she can't figure it out. She does it just to spite me. This is hardly the first time she's withheld something; told me only half of what I ought to know, or done half the work she's actually capable of. She has as much to gain from this as we do, but she still wastes time and energy going out of her way to let me know how much she hates me. You've seen the way she looks at me, haven't you? It's not as though I've never been disliked, but at least in the past it's typically been for something I actually _did._"

"**Your majesty, with all due respect, even our current slender chance for a successful restoration is owed to her. Her arrival was what shocked my system back into activity, and both the portals you use to pierce the void and the plan to utilize the Gates are based on her research. I understand you have… personal issues with our guest, but..."**

"It's hard to be delicate when the person you're dealing with has nothing but loathing for you." Enlil said dryly. "But yes, I understand how valuable her mind is, and as long as she continues to hold up her end of the bargain, I have no reason to throw her out into the void to rot. No matter how charming that thought might be."

Finally finding the door she sought, Enlil slammed it open without knocking. "We need to talk."

The room was sparsely appointed; merely a small bed, a desk, and a computer terminal. That was appropriate, since the woman who lived in it spent most of her time in the library or one of the labs and only used this particular room when she wished to sleep or when she was ordered to do so. Nobody quite trusted her outside of it, after all, least of all the computer that could shut down her research at will if she didn't do as she was told. The woman in question raised her head from the terminal and brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. Her device, a golden staff with a purple gemstone, sat leaning against the desk... she refused to put it into standby mode. Apparently, she didn't trust her hostess. Considering she and her hostess shared a mutual distaste for each other, that was probably wise.

She was scowling, of course. But then, the Twilight Queen didn't think the woman had smiled even once since she'd first arrived a year ago… closer to dead than alive, wrapped in failing protection spells, and with only a corpse for company.

"What," Precia Testarossa asked irritably, "do _you _want?"


	6. Civilized Discussion

**Author's Note: Hee, I'm glad the Precia reveal turned out so well. I was worried that it would come across as stupid, but I'm actually very happy with how it ended up.**

**I've also learned as of this chapter that Precia is a brutally difficult character to write. The problem is that she has a motivation suitable for a sympathetic villain, but she is an utterly _unsympathetic _character. It's incredibly hard to balance her 'I just want to save my kid' backstory with the fact that she is, for all intents and purposes, a petty, vindictive, and totally psychotic child abuser. Hopefully it turned out well...**

**Chapter 5: Civilized Discussion **

Enlil's eyes narrowed.

She said, "I put up with a great deal from you that I wouldn't tolerate from others. I do this because you are very useful, and technically speaking you are not one of my subjects."

"How wonderful for you. Leave." Precia said.

"_However_. I do have my limits, Miss Testarossa. And while I may not be your queen, you are still living in my home. So please, do us both a favor and tell me: what is the meaning of this?!" She continued, holding up her hand to display a projection of the four girls at their picnic.

Precia didn't even glance at the image, instead turning back to her terminal. "I see nothing particularly interesting."

Enlil fought down the urge to throttle the woman. "_Look more closely._" She growled.

Precia, seemingly catching the shift in tone, turned back to glance at the image… and let out a single sharp laugh of disbelief. "HA! That's what this is about? I have a small university worth of data to analyze from the first gate to make sure we've successfully programmed that overpowered monstrosity to do something it was never _intended _to do, and the search program we have running has been nagging me to check it for the last hour. And in spite of this, you drag me away from my work to talk about… that?" Precia asked, her eyes filled with disdain and focused on the blonde pigtailed girl. "As I said before: _nothing particularly interesting._"

"Oh, really? I just saw this young lady, and thought she was _extremely_ interesting. Rather pretty, isn't she? She reminds me of my own daughter… no, wait, that's not quite true. She reminds me of… hmmm… _someone, _certainly. Someone's daughter…" Enlil rolled her eyes at her own irreverent tone and the absurdity of the situation in general. "Honestly, Precia, it's as though you've genuinely forgotten that I have a fairly good grasp of _what your daughter looks like. _And now a girl identical to _your child_ in _every way_, and allied with the Bureau, attacked my guardians while they were activating the first Gate. And yet it somehow slipped your mind to mention that this girl existed?"

Precia's gaze looked, if anything, colder than usual. "I thought she was dead, although I suppose that was just wishful thinking. In any event, I cut off all ties with her… _it…_ a long time ago. It's nothing to me but a failed experiment."

"Of course it is," Enlil said, smiling sweetly. "Just like the flaws in the equations for the portal ritual you gave me… you know, the ones that would have left me comatose for a month if I hadn't corrected them before casting the spell?... were included _completely _by accident. Just like your failure to mention that the TSAB had a presence on Earth was a simple _oversight. _Precia, I've put up with your spiteful, vindictive nature for the simple reason that you are valuable. But you seem to have confused 'valuable' for 'indispensible'. You see, an indispensable thing cannot, as the word suggests, be disposed of_. _But a valuable thing _most definitely can_." Enlil finished, using the same tone she'd once taken when ordering criminals put to death.

_Presence on_… Precia thought. Then she remembered the image again, and thought about one of the other girls that appeared in the small picture. _Ahhh, that little brat who ruined the hunt for the Jewel Seeds. I suppose if Fate escaped from the Garden before it collapsed, it only makes sense that she would have too. _Precia vaguely wondered if she might be in trouble here. Enlil was most likely completely serious about having her put to death, and Precia had only actually _done _one of the things she was being accused of… and really, the flaws in the portal spell had been a minor inconvenience at best. She had not, she admitted to herself, had any real reason to do it other than the fact that she wished, very much, to kill Enlil, but could not do so.

It wasn't a matter of power. Enlil _was_ obscenely powerful; vastly more so than any mage should have been, but that wasn't the problem. No, the actual _problem _was that Precia had finally found everything she'd ever wanted, only to discover there were some fairly huge strings attached.

She hadn't meant to come to this world. She'd fully expected to die when she'd fallen from the Garden of Time. Yet destiny had guided her here, sparing her life by the slimmest of margins (she'd been informed that, upon her arrival, she'd actually been declared 'deceased' by the automated systems that had found her. Margins didn't get much slimmer than that). And what she'd found was, while hardly the golden miracles she would have preferred, more than adequate.

The technology here… the very fact that she was alive and no longer coughing up blood stood as testament to the fact that this dead civilization was technologically superior to current governments in every conceivable way, including medical technology. And nearly all of it was _intact. _Nothing _alive, _but the machines were, for the most part, either in working condition or at least reparable. Precia wasn't certain how, but assumed it had something to do with a combination of really, really good engineering and the fact that time and the laws of physics seemed to work differently in this void dimension, _especially _outside the few shielded structures that could maintain life. With her own research and the secrets waiting to be unlocked here, Precia had every reason to believe that a perfect human resurrection was a possibility.

Unfortunately, the only reason she had lived long enough to realize this was that someone had dragged her out of the hideously inhospitable outdoors before her defenses failed, and taken her into one of those shielded structures to have her dying body pieced back together. Normally, this would have been a _good _thing, but the 'someone' in this instance had proven herself to be a demonically frustrating obstacle.

Enlil was an intelligent woman, and even before they'd managed to overcome the language barrier, it had not taken her terribly long to piece together the fact that Precia wouldn't have been travelling with a dead girl for fun. Unfortunately, she was also enormously powerful and had complete administrative rights to the supercomputer that governed the majority of the technology on the planet. This meant that while restoring Alicia may have been _possible_, it would not be done without her express consent. And to exacerbate matters, Enlil had taken some very devious steps to ensure that such a resurrection would _not_ be taking place over her dead body, either. She'd _claimed_ that it had not been done intentionally, but she was also, Precia noted, not particularly unhappy with it. And even in the unlikely chance that she was being sincere, it did not change the fact that Precia would not see her daughter alive again without Enlil's permission. And that permission would not be granted unless Precia offered her expert assistance on several… small matters.

It was, in a way, worse than death. Her daughter, the one light in her life, had been turned into a chain to bind her into servitude. She was torn between equal parts rage and desperation. On the one hand, Precia _needed _Enlil to succeed; desperately needed this one last shot at restoring the only person she'd ever really cared about. But on the other hand, she truly, deeply _loathed _the other woman more than she'd ever hated anyone before in her life, and she was not the sort of woman to disguise an emotion like that. She'd been reduced to throwing minor spanners in the works; withholding information she wasn't specifically asked for, putting minor flaws into spells she was asked to devise. Nothing that would truly derail Enlil's schemes, but just enough to get across the simple point: _I hate you._

It was, frankly, humiliating; little better than schoolchildren playing pranks. But it was the only way she had to rebel in even the most minor of fashions. Now that she was in danger of dying, she wasn't sure if she wished she hadn't done any of it, or had done something _worse _so she would actually deserve her punishment. In either event, she couldn't afford to die just yet, so perhaps it was time to mend fences.

"I have been here for a year, correct? During that time, you have kept me under constant surveillance. While it's not impossible that I could have figured out some way to manage a communication to Fate, when could I have done so without getting caught?" Precia said.

Enlil shrugged. "You couldn't have."

"Wh-"

"I worked that out for myself awhile ago. You couldn't have planned something like this without getting caught. I know this was nothing you did, at least on purpose."

Precia fought to keep from strangling the girl. "Then _why _did you come down here acting as though I betrayed you and threatening my life?!"

Enlil's eyes got very cold. "Because I was _angry_, Precia. Had I known about 'Fate' or the TSAB's presence on Earth, it would have greatly altered the course of this operation. But I didn't, and now the TSAB is aware of our movements long before I planned. Both of our goals have been placed in jeopardy because of you withholding information. I think a small scare is better than you deserve, frankly, but you haven't _quite _managed to outlive your usefulness"

Enlil turned to leave, saying as she did, "Continue to examine that data. Unless I'm mistaken, the search program's 'nagging' means it's found another intact Gate, so I'd like you to make sure the reprogramming worked properly on the first one before we activate any others. Oh, and Precia? We long ago reached the point where you need me more than I need you, so please… would you stop these childish acts of rebellion and just keep your half of the bargain? Otherwise, I may genuinely have to do something horrible to you."

Precia sat in silence, watching as the door closed behind her. The room was silent for several minutes except for the slow drip… drip… drip… of blood falling from Precia's hands. She had clenched her fists so hard that her fingernails pierced the skin of her palms.

And at the moment, she was so furious she didn't even notice.

She was so, _so_ sick of this. Precia Testarossa was nobody's pawn. She was not some puppet to be made to dance for that insufferable brat's amusement. For the moment, she needed Enlil, but the thing about moments was that they didn't last terribly long. And when this one ended…

_Watch your back, 'your majesty'._

* * *

"So, who are you going to be bringing home this time?" Arisa asked dryly.

A day had passed since the 'incident' at Tokyo tower, and although the news was still abuzz with people wondering why, exactly, the Tower had started glowing and then stopped, in general people had started to accept that the world wasn't ending. Yet.

And of course, school. Nanoha had heard that in some places, when strange phenomena stuck national monuments, kids got a day off from school. In Japan, they didn't even get to sleep in. They did get a lunch break, and they were in fact on it now, but since that happened every day it wasn't really anything to get excited about.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Nanoha asked indignantly.

"Well, first it was Fate and Miss Arf. Then it was the angry little girl with the hammer and her friends. Every time you have a big case, you end up introducing us to at least a few new people. So who do you think they'll be this time? Any ideas?" Arisa asked.

"Actually, _I _introduced us to Hayate." Suzuka pointed out.

"True, but you didn't beat up her friends. That was Nanoha."

"… well, I wouldhave at least _tried_ to beat up her friends if I'd known that would help." Suzuka said defensively.

"I don't… I don't fight all the people I make friends with…" Nanoha said. Then she thought for a second. "… do I?"

"Well… not _all _of them. But most." Fate said teasingly.

"I never fought Yuuno or Chrono! And there's a lot of people on the _Asura, _and miss Lindy, and…" Nanoha said in a mild panic.

"Nanoha! Nanoha, we're just kidding." Suzuka said with a reassuring smile.

"We are?" Arisa whispered to Fate.

"Not really, but we should probably stop pointing it out." Fate whispered back conspiratorially.

"That's… that's right. I'm not violent, I'm a nice girl…" Nanoha said soothingly to herself.

"The first time we ever spoke to each other, you slapped me, right?" Arisa asked.

"… … I'm a monster!"

Fate put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Nanoha. Your approach may be… novel. But it works. I'm living proof. When I think about what my life would be like if I hadn't met you… I can't, because I wouldn't _have _a life anymore if I hadn't met you."

"… then I'm a good girl?"

"Yes, sweetie. You're a very good girl." Fate said, smiling warmly.

"… F-Fate…" Nanoha said, genuinely touched.

"We could start selling tickets." Arisa said. "Combat Therapy. Nanoha will smack you around for five minutes, and then all your problems will just solve themselves."

"It's not that simple, Arisa. She also asks what you're trying to do, and then she offers to be your friend." Fate said demurely.

"… and now you're making fun of me again!" Nanoha protested.

"Only a little." Fate said mischievously.

"But you never answered Arisa's question, Nanoha," Suzuka pointed out. "While the way she phrased it was sort of stupid…"

"HEY!"

"… I really am curious. What were they like?" Suzuka finished.

"Well, you met them. They're… weird." Nanoha said.

"Weird is a good word." Fate agreed.

"They… well, it's like this. When I first met Fate, she seemed so sad it just made my heart hurt. I just wanted to know why such a pretty girl was so sad and see if I could make her smile."

"Nanoha…" Fate said softly, smiling in spite of looking on the verge of tears.

"And Vita just seemed… desperate. Like her mission was the only thing that mattered, and the world would be over if she couldn't do it. She seemed like she was in so much trouble that I couldn't resist trying to help her." Nanoha said. "But Tsukuyomi… I didn't feel _anything_ from her. It was like she was a doll. There was no emotion at all. It's like… she doesn't even really care about what she'd doing. She was told to do it, and she doesn't really have any reason not to, but she herself doesn't seem to care that much at all_. _I… I don't know how to reach someone like that."

"Then what are you going to do?"

Nanoha shrugged. "Keep trying. She didn't seem like a _bad _girl. In her own… unique… way, she actually seemed like she was trying not to hurt me. I'm not saying that she can't be reasoned with, just that I haven't figured out how to do it yet."

"Fate? What about the boy?" Arisa asked, now interested in spite of herself.

Fate thought about it for a moment. "Well, he was definitely overbearing, and sort of abrasive. But he was also well… friendly. He kept complimenting me and giving me advice; at times it was almost more like we were playing a game than fighting with each other. And when I got hurt, instead of pressing his advantage, he basically refused to keep fighting. I never really got the feeling 'this boy is a bad person'."

Arisa and Suzuka thought about this for a few seconds.

"Yup." Arisa said dryly. "They're bringing home two more strays."

"Arisa, please don't make it sound like we're running a puppy farm…" Nanoha begged.

* * *

Of course, there were worse places to be than school, and more annoying people to be with than Arisa. Not that Arisa was annoying, and anybody who said she was would likely get kicked. Yuuno would certainly never say she was, and in fact wished he was eating lunch with her, as opposed to where he actually was.

"Captain… Tarra, isn't it? My name is Yuuno Scrya, and this is my associate, Arf. I believe we've spoken before." Yuuno said, sitting next to Arf in the interrogation room in the TSAB holding facility. It wasn't one of those amazing prisons that have names like 'The Cage' or the 'The Rock', just an ordinary jail for criminals who weren't worth anything special. If it had a nickname, it would be something like 'That Place down the Road' or 'That Prison That's Close to the Restaurant with the Good Soup'.

"You, I remember." The large pirate replied. He then put on what he probably imagined to be a charming smile but which came across as a _leer _at best. "Haven't met her, though. Gives 'foxy' a whole new meaning…"

Arf rolled her eyes. "Are you always this greasy, or putting forth a special effort just for me? Besides, we _have _met."

"Really? I think I'd remember _you_…"

"Not really. You were unconscious at the time. As I recall, you'd just gotten completely dominated in single combat by a ten-year-old girl." Arf said wickedly.

Tarra's smile faded. "You were with _her_. The little kid in white."

"Bingo."

"Now, Captain. You are, currently, the only person we know for sure was present during both the initial retrieval of the Dimension Drivers and the incident aboard the _Vishnu. _We are, of course, planning to interview all members of both crews in due time, but for now, we plan to start with you telling us everything you can remember about the ruins you stole those gems from, and anything we don't already know about the sabotage of the _Vishnu's _computer systems."

"Uh-huh. Well, you can just go to Hell." Captain Tarra said conversationally. "Considering that you called down the raid that destroyed my ship and got me locked up in here, and she was _part _of it, I'm sorta thinking that I hate you both."

Yuuno sighed. "I don't suppose it would help to say that cooperation would get you some leniency in your sentencing?"

"Unless you're offerin' me a full pardon and a new ship, then nope, I'm thinking I'd rather be in prison than make you happy."

"Ah. Well, then, Arf, you're up." Yuuno said.

"Just a hint? If you're gonna play good cop-bad cop, then the 'bad' cop has to be a bit more intimidating." Tarra advised with a smirk.

Arf smiled in a manner that raised the temperature in the room by ten degrees and stretched, showing off her impressive physique. She then stood up and sat down on the edge of the table near Tarra, close enough that he could see everything that wasn't covered. Which, considering her wardrobe, was more than enough to make his eyes widen. And Yuuno's, for that matter… they had rehearsed this, at Arf's insistence (she had worked out the entire interrogation in her head, and she swore that this part would be _really _funny when they were looking back on this later), but seeing it actually play out was still sort of shocking.

"That's kind of mean." She pouted. "I mean, maybe I'm the good cop?"

"Oh. Oooooh. Okay, maybe you guys aren't stupid after all. Tell you what, give me an hour alone with her, maybe I will talk." Tarra said in tone somewhere between lecherous and stunned.

Yuuno winced. "An hour? An hour. Ouch. Just remember: you asked for it." He said, standing up and leaving the room. _Poor guy…_ Yuuno thought.

"Now this is more like it." The pirate said with a positively evil grin.

"I agree completely, big guy." Arf purred. "Oh, and by the way? I _am _the bad cop."

Tarra wasn't exactly sure what happened next. One second he was facing a very attractive young lady, the next he went down in a rush of fur and fangs. All he knew for sure was that when he opened his eyes, he found himself face to face with an enormous, drooling beast, its mouthful of extremely sharp teeth poised to rip his throat out.

"Now _**TALK!"**_Arf snarled. In her mind, she was thinking _Yes! Yes! First I was all 'Femme Fatale' and then __**boom**__! I turn the whole thing around! That went totally great! He is __**so**__ scared! _But she had the presence of mind to keep this thought to herself, and the fact that she was smiling translated, on her canine face, to the fact that her mouthful of very large, sharp teeth were showing much more clearly.

Outside the room, Yuuno heard the man scream, "_I'll talk, I'll talk! Please, God, I'll talk_!"

Smiling slightly, Yuuno opened the door and poked his head back in. "Are you sure? Because it hasn't been an hour yet."

"_Please don't let her kill me!_"

"I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Tsukuyomi opened her eyes. She blinked, exactly twice. Then, detecting a certain level of stiffness in her muscles, she chose to stretch. It helped. Closing her eyes, again, she focused her mind inward. _Core stability confirmed, repairs complete. All combat functions are at 100% efficiency._

Satisfied that the damage she'd suffered was completely repaired, she lifted her pendant to her lips. "Suijin, are you prepared for battle?"

"**All systems ready, milady."**

"Excellent. Restoration System, please deactivate. I am fully repaired." The hollow, opaque black crystal she was hovering within faded out of existence, and she floated serenely down to the floor. "Older brother, are your repairs complete?" she asked one of the other two crystals floating in the small chamber.

Silence.

Tsukuyomi tilted her head to one side.

Silence.

She rapped lightly on the side of the gem.

Silence.

"Wake up, older brother." She said.

Silence.

She raised her hand, a silver-blue star appearing around her outstretched arm. The crystal disappeared as she forced deactivation externally, sending Susanoo tumbling unceremoniously to the floor.

"Ulf! Wh-what the…?! TSUKU! What the Hell?!" He snapped.

"It's time to wake up." Tsukuyomi said mildly.

"That's no way to wake up your brother, Tsukuyomi! That's no way to wake him up at all!" Susanoo said.

"But… I had to make sure you woke up…" Tsukuyomi said. "It's not good to sleep for a long time…"

"You might have tried saying 'wake up!'"

"I did…"

"Then speak up! Geez, I know it's not your fault, but you're worse than that Testarossa girl!"

"I'm sorry. I'll try to be more loud and frantic like you." Tsukuyomi said in an utterly serene tone.

"GAH! That's mean, Tsukuyomi, calling me an annoying jerk who you wish wasn't your brother! That's really mean!"

"I didn't say that…"

"You said it with your eyes!"

Tsukuyomi looked confused. "My eyes cannot speak. They don't even have mouths…"

"Hated by my own baby sister! I've never been so sad!" Susanoo proclaimed. Tears began to well up in his eyes, presumably from the sadness.

"**Lightning Unit, Ocean Unit, please report to the royal assembly hall for your mission briefing. The next gate scheduled for activation has been determined." **Yggdrasil's automated voice intoned.

"Oooh, that was quick! Okay Tsuku, mission time! Come on!" Susanoo said, his sadness instantly forgotten. He sprinted towards this new diversion, dragging his sister behind him.

* * *

"I can't believe you _bit _him." Yuuno said as he and Arf sat in their jail cell awaiting processing.

"He asked me to!" Arf protested, once again a girl.

"When someone says 'bite me', they're not literally asking you to bite them!"

"Well, how was I supposed to know he was kidding?"

"You know, we're technically guilty of a crime now. I'm an accomplice to you torturing a prisoner. We're going to be in here for years." Yuuno said dully.

"Oh, I barely even broke the skin. He was completely fixed five minutes after it happened. At most we'll get a fine." Arf said jovially. "You've got money, right? Big time Bureau record-master?"

Yuuno laughed bitterly. "Sure. Because librarians are known for their great salaries."

"… Yuuno, I've been meaning to ask, since you seemed so happy to be in the field. Do you even like your job?"

"Of course I do. Searching through ancient texts and artifacts is my passion. Research has always been my first love." Yuuno said.

"Buuuut…"

"… but whoever ran the Infinity Library before me was a complete and total moron!" Yuuno snapped. "How hard is it to organize a library?! You divide the texts into groups by subject, and then arrange them within subject groups by the author's name! We're talking about putting books in alphabetical order, not advanced physics. A toddler could manage it! But instead, my illustrious predecessor decided to use the far less efficient 'throw everything onto the shelves at random' system! Did you know I haven't gotten any real work done in the last six months? Not a shred of research. I have spent _six months _just trying to get that bottomless pit turned into something resembling a usable database. My entire staff… which, by the way, is only _five people…_ has been working double shifts and we're barely ten percent finished. And that's probably being generous!"

"Sounds rough." Arf said consolingly.

"When they called me to come here? Help out with this case? I thought I was dreaming at first. I'd fallen asleep at my desk, and the thought of finally having something important enough to justify taking a break… it seemed too good to be true." Yuuno said wistfully.

"That's harsh, buddy." Arf said, patting him on the shoulder.

"And then this idiot. This pirate. I just can't understand him. He takes his pack of… of _animals_ to a dig site older than his entire _culture. _There, completely by accident, he uncovers a sealed, even _older_ chamber underneath the existing ruins. And upon seeing this priceless historical treasure, this possible key to the secrets of the past, what does he do? _Rob it_. He sees the cultural heritage of a lost people as a source of _profit. _Not knowledge. Not self-improvement. Just a quick source of cash."

"Some people are just jerks." Arf said supportively.

"I… I hate him. I hate that guy! Yeah, I really hate him!" Yuuno said suddenly. "I've never really _hated _anyone before, but I think this is what it feels like!"

"Good for you! Let it all out!" Arf encouraged him.

"In fact, I'm _glad _you bit him! It's worth the punishment!" Yuuno said proudly. "Arf, I think we've struck a blow for scholars everywhere."

"That's absolutely what I was thinking about when I bit him. I thought 'biting this guy will help science'." Arf said serenely.

"You're a good person, Arf." Yuuno said.

The two companions fell into silence for several minutes. It was Arf who finally broke it.

"Chrono is going to be _pissed, _isn't he?" She said.

"Yes." Yuuno agreed.

_**Thirty minutes later…**_

"I can't believe you _bit _him!" Chrono said, pissed. "You know that's a crime, right?! You're both criminals now!"

"People keep saying that, but he really did ask me to bite him!" Arf whined. All suspects got to make a single communication, and as their case was somewhat special, Arf and Yuuno were being permitted to make their obligatory one communiqué together. The two of them sat together in the prison's message center, speaking over the small monitor to Chrono on the _Asura_. "Yuuno, you heard him! He asked me, right?"

"He… he technically did…" Yuuno admitted.

"See? Yuuno wouldn't lie. He's a good boy." Arf said, patting him on the head.

"He's an _accomplice._" Chrono said darkly. "Now, did you two actually learn anything valuable, or did you just terrorize thugs?" Chrono asked in a long-suffering tone.

"We actually _did _find out a few things. Before Mr. Tarra and Arf had their… disagreement… I got him to sketch a few of the symbols he saw in the chamber where he found the Logia. I guess he used to go to the Academy, so he actually had a pretty good memory for glyphs and sigils, and they were accurate enough that I can legitimately say that the Gate and the Drivers were made by the same culture. In addition, he claims that he left behind a few units that appeared to be inactive, so I'd like you to send a team to collect them from the dig site, along with anything else they could find. Maybe the broken units could give us some clues about the active ones, and maybe the other artifacts could give me some hint as to the nature of their culture. If we know what we're fighting, we might be able to think of some countermeasures or even open negotiations."

"Reasonable." Chrono agreed.

"Also, is there some way that you can change that guy's sentencing to have him sent to jail _forever_? Archaeologists across known reality would revere you." Yuuno stated.

"Yuuno, that would be illegal. You see, there's this thing called 'a court system', and it gets to decide how long people go to prison. If I just ignore it, then they can send _me _to jail." Chrono said soothingly.

"Are you sure?" Yuuno said.

"Yes."

"Can you do it anyway?"

"No, Yuuno."

"Oh. Well." Yuuno said, sounding disappointed. "Could you at least get us out of here, then?"

"Maybe. I've had Amy look up some data on your situation, in between her fits of giggling, and it seems there's a loophole in the laws that we should be able to exploit. Since Arf isn't _your _familiar and since she committed the crime while in animal form, it seems she can technically be considered a 'pet' for purposes of this case."

Arf's face fell. "A _pet_?!"

"Don't complain. Torturing a prisoner is notably worse than letting a rambunctious pet bite somebody. You may not like it, but I just got your sentence _sharply _reduced. If Yuuno just pleads guilty to irresponsible pet ownership right now, you'll just have to fill out some paperwork, pay a small fine, and Arf will have to take a mandatory three weeks of obedience training. You'll be free by the end of the day."

"… … … I have to go to _dog school_?" Arf said in some cross between disgust and disbelief.

"In any event, call me back when you're ready to check out. I'd prefer you both back on the _Asura _ASAP."

"I… I really have to take dog classes? You're serious?" Arf said.

"I'll say hello to Fate for you, Arf." Chrono said.

"Chrono, wait! You were just joking about the obedience school, right?!" Arf asked desperately.

"Sorry, can't hear you, transmission must be faulty." Chrono said through the perfectly clear transmission. He shut down the monitor, doing his best to ignore Arf's worried expression.

"… Yuuno?"

"Yes, Arf?"

"I don't think I really like interrogating criminals after all."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. You were doing a really good job until you bit that guy." Yuuno said consolingly.

"_He asked me to!_"

* * *

"Amy?" Chrono asked, once the screen had gone dark.

"Yes, Chrono?"

"How did mother put up with this? Were these people always this bad, or do they just break out their worst for me?" Chrono asked.

"Chrono, I… actually, you know, I think we _are _worse for you." Amy said. "It's just funny to see your reactions. Admiral Lindy was so easy-going and you… well, aren't."

"I didn't actually need an answer to that, Amy. It was meant to be rhetorical." Chrono said sadly.

"Oh. Um… sorry?"

"Don't worry about it. If that's the worst thing that happens to me today, I'll be a happy man." Chrono sighed.

The very _instant _he said 'man', the _Asura's _alarm began to blare.

"Dimensional disturbance located!" Amy said, turning back to her console. "Tracking… Chrono, the incursion is exactly the same as the readings Fate gave us. It's them." Amy said grimly.

"… I'm not happy, Amy." Chrono said.


	7. Machinations

**Chapter 6: Machinations**

The room was dark, and humid, and reeked of chemical preservatives. Were it not for the lack of bodies, mistaking it for a morgue would have been simple indeed. And indeed, the only beings who frequented this particular chamber were not exactly what one would call 'alive'.

But they weren't quite dead yet, either, as the speaking... well, it was difficult to call it 'speaking', but words were certainly exchanged... indicated.

_A sensor net has detected the readings from Captain Harlaown's report, and a reconnaissance unit has confirmed their location._

_Another incursion has begun._

_Has the _Asura_ engaged yet?_

_No, but it is only a matter of time._

_The technology displayed by the intruders is interesting. If we allow Harlaown to take them in through official channels, it will be sealed for years before anyone finds a use for it._

_In most cases, Lost Logia are too dangerous to be used immediately, but this is a unique case. Thus far, the intruders have not demonstrated any technology that we could not control. With a few hours of study, we could advance our capabilities by a century or more. _

_The benefits are obvious and potentially tremendous. To allow them to be missed due to protocol and regulations would be unwise. _

_We are agreed, then, that we must take these two in ourselves?_

_Yes._

_Of course. All that remains is a question of how best to do so._

_Is the Doctor available for an assignment? This seems the sort of task he would relish._

_No. He claims that the finishing touches on the newest units will take him at least three months, and has preemptively refused all order requests during that time._

_We give him too much free will. He needs to remember that he is still a servant of this institution._

_He's a scientist. If he didn't have free reign to pursue his whims, he wouldn't be nearly so effective. And we have other resources. _

_Section Black?_

_Acceptable. Their orders are to capture the two hostiles alive if possible. If not, then at the very least any and all technology in their possession is to be confiscated intact. _

_The _Asura _is likely to react to this incursion before our operatives arrive. Ensure that the team silences all witnesses, and make certain that no transmissions reach the ship itself once they have engaged the targets. _

_And what if the _Asura'_s prime enforcers are among those at the site? Takamachi and Testarossa are valuable combat resources in their own right. Would it be wise to simply dispose of them?_

_It does seem rather wasteful, admittedly. But Section Black can potentially be traced back to the Doctor. There must be no sign of a connection between that man and this institution. _

_Agreed._

_… … … very well, then. In the end, the gains from this mission will outstrip the losses several times over. _

_Takamachi and Testarossa will be a regrettable, but necessary, sacrifice. _

_

* * *

_

Five minutes after this conversation took place, an unassuming person in an unassuming office received a call. He listened to the seemingly random string of numbers and letters intently, stopping only occasionally to replay some portion of the message he had missed. When he had finished, he deleted the message in its entirety, and placed a call of his own. Another rather plain, bland looking young man appeared on his screen. The man in the office didn't say anything terribly interesting to the man on the screen. Just, "We need to get something here, and we're already a step behind." and then he listed out some numbers of his own. They were…

* * *

"Dimensional coordinates 1174382001." Amy said.

"What can you tell me?" Chrono asked tersely.

"It looks like we lucked out this time, Chrono… they arrived inside a secured zone. There was already a passive sensor grid in place to prevent intrusions." Amy said. "Even better, the world is uninhabited. Because there're some signs that an advanced civilization once resided there... in particular, several C- and D-class Lost Logia have been found scattered across the planetary surface… the planet has been declared an Off-Limits zone except to authorized Bureau personnel." Amy said, reading the file. "Which, frankly, is okay, because…"

* * *

"…this place is a _dump!_" Susanoo said. He poked a big gray pile of something that might have once been a plant, causing it to crumble to dust. "Geez, is there _anything _alive on this world?"

"Microbial life-forms detected in local water and soil, but I am noting a distinct lack of anything higher in the evolutionary process. The most likely explanation would be that this planet was largely depopulated by a comet impact or similar cataclysm, and the ecosystem is only now beginning to repair itself. I imagine if we'd arrived a few thousand years ago, we would have seen an ice age. As it is, it is extremely unlikely this planet will be able to support any life larger than bacteria and algae for several thousand more years." Tsukuyomi said.

"How lame is that? I was hoping for some vicious wildlife. Or at least more oddly powerful picnic girls." Susanoo whined. "Ah, well, just one more reason to get this done quickly. Do we know where the Gate is?"

"It is quite likely that this Gate, like the unit on Earth, will be buried." Tsukuyomi said.

"… I note that you didn't actually say where it was."

"Unfortunately, the nature of the Gates makes them very difficult to locate with search magic, even while they are dormant. While it should be somewhere within one-hundred square kilometers of our current location, we were only able to get a general location as with the Gate on Earth. In order to pinpoint the location, a more specific on-site search will be required…"

"Yeah, I thought so. Well, you start running a wide-area search. I'll watch your back." He then sighed. "You know, to make sure no algae sneak up on you."

* * *

"All right. Send out a full containment team, tell them to set up a restraint barrier until we can get our enforcers to the scene." Chrono said, snapping into command mode. "Get Nanoha and Fate there ASAP, and reconfigure the transmit pad to send Arf and Yuuno to join them."

"Yuuno and Arf are in prison."

"Well, get them out!" Chrono said, stepping off his chair and heading for the transit pad. The silver card that would become Durandal was held at the ready between his fingers.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked.

"To join the combat team of… course…" he then stopped. "… the captain has to stay with the ship, doesn't he?"

"Sorry, Chrono."

"Fine. Just… just tell them to be _careful_. They are to contain, not engage." Chrono grumbled. "These mages went toe-to-toe with two of our most promising agents and came out mostly on top. They're a pair of real monsters, and nobody currently on this ship could last long in combat against them except me. We _must _take them seriously."

* * *

"Hey, Tsukuyomi! Look! I'm interacting with the local life!" Susanoo said, floating upside down and looking at his reflection in a shallow pool. "Someday, the bacteria floating in there will evolve into the most awesome animals on this world, I guarantee it. You can do it, little guys!" He said, giving a thumbs-up… which he then flipped when he realized that he was upside down.

"Conducting wide-area full spectrum search magic requires a great deal of concentration and energy. Please do not distract me." Tsukuyomi said, floating in the midst of several glowing turquoise sigils.

"Ah, don't listen to her, little awesome bacteria. You just look at me and think 'I want to evolve into _that_!'" He said.

Silence.

Silence.

"So, I've been thinking about 'kilometers' ever since we got back from Earth, and you know what? The metric system is sort of convenient. Makes me wonder why we never came up with anything like that." Susanoo said, basically to break the silence.

"Oh. That's interesting." Tsukuyomi said.

"I know! I mean, it's just simple groups of ten, right? Plus you don't have to remember how long that one jerk's stride was, which is always a plus…"

"Oh, no, not that. Your comment was inane."

"HEY!"

"I was referring to the fact that the ten mages that surrounded us three minutes ago have begun casting a group magic. It seems to be some form of containment barrier designed to restrict us to this single location and time… yes, there it is." Tsukuyomi said as the sky grew dark with the entrapment barrier. "This will interfere with my search…"

"… … … … …" Susanoo said.

"Perhaps we should find some way to escape." Tsukuyomi suggested.

"… … … Tsuku."

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you tell me those people were there _when they arrived?!_" Susanoo snapped.

"I thought they might have been friendly…"

"Why, exactly, would friendly people be showing up on 'Random Dead Planet'?!"

"Well, they were not attacking. I thought perhaps they were simply shy…"

"… Sure. Why not." Susanoo said, seemingly realizing that arguing with her was a wasted effort. "I think I can punch a hole in this barrier, but it won't stay open long. I'll hold it open while you break out, then see what I can do about our new friends."

"You stayed behind last time. I could stay behind this time while you escape." Tsukuyomi offered.

"Well, there's one problem with that. My search magic sucks. If we rely on _me _to find the Gate, we won't locate it until next month." Susanoo said.

"… point."

"Glad you agree with me. Raijin!"

"**Your Highness!" **

"I do believe it's time to give these amateurs a little taste of how the professionals do things. Load up a barrier buster, let's smash right through it!"

The weapon hummed with power, once again glowing with blue light. "**Lightning Blade, stand by. Ready!" **

"Okay! Time to solve my problems with violence!"

* * *

"Chrono! One them has escaped the barrier! We still have the male, though!" Amy reported.

"… damn. Last time, the girl was the one who activated the gate. All we did was catch the bodyguard!" Chrono growled. "… and speaking of annoying magical girls, where are _ours_?!"

"I guess they're taking their English language class right now." Amy said.

"… … … so?!"

"SO, they can't just leave in the middle of a class. It'll look suspicious. They have to sneak out one at a time."

"Just tell them to make up a lame excuse and get out of there! We'll deal with the fallout later!"

"Oh, sure. _You _say that, but it's not your grades that will suffer. Learning a foreign language is hard, Chrono!"

"Amy, for the love of… we'll hack their school computers and raise their grades! We can do that, right? Just get me my enforcers!"

"All right, I'll let them know, but I don't think they'll be willing to cheat like that. They're good girls." Amy said primly. She turned back to her console and relayed Chrono's message through Raising Heart and Bardiche. "Um… well… Fate protested, but Nanoha was strangely accepting of the idea… should we be worried about that?"

* * *

"Right, then." Susanoo said, looking around at the circle of TSAB combat mages. "I don't mean to sound like I don't respect you guys, but you do realize that I've been to children's birthday parties that were more threatening than you?"

"Don't go near him. Just deflect his fire and make sure he doesn't leave until an enforcer gets here." The unit leader said tersely. "And where is the other one?!"

"She's off doing something, I'm sure. You really can't afford to be worrying about anyone but me, you know?"

"**Crush them like the insects they are!" **Raijin said.

"Sorry about that. She gets that way sometimes." Susanoo said apologetically.

"Can the barrier hold him? I've never felt one struggle like this…" one of the mages muttered.

"No." Susanoo said, raising his weapon above his head and beginning to charge it. He smiled at the young man who'd expressed concern. "No, you really, really can't hold me."

"They don't need to."

"**Haken Form!"**

Susanoo smiled even more widely. "Apprentice!" He said cheerfully as he brought Raijin into position to intercept the rapidly descending Bardiche as Fate swept down on him. "I was hoping you'd show up. These guys are barely even a fight, frankly. Oh, and you brought…" he began, glancing at Nanoha. He continued to stare at her in silence for several seconds, his weapon still locked with Fate's. "… her!" he finally finished.

"Why do they never remember my name?" Nanoha asked nobody in particular.

"… Nantoka?" Susanoo asked.

"I'm leaving." Nanoha said sadly, flying off, presumably to find Tsukuyomi. Fate instantly interspersed herself between Nanoha and Susanoo.

"Your business is with me." She said.

"No, no, that's wrong…"

"You don't get a choice," Fate informed him.

"Wha… no, not THAT! Fate, of course I'm gonna fight _you, _who else would I fight? No, my problem is the way you handled this. Okay, now I want you to watch this really closely, pay attention." He cleared his throat, and brandished his weapon in a gesture of challenge. "Hold! I swear, if you so much as breathe in my friend's direction, I'll cut you out of the air! The only enemy you need concern yourself with is _me,_ villain!"

"… … …" Fate said.

"You see what I did there? My challenge was a lot clearer than yours, I wasn't using metaphors like 'business'. Also, I made sure to call you a villain, firmly establishing myself as being in the right. That's important to do. But most importantly, I showed _enthusiasm! _Fate, if you don't show a little passion you're never going to intimidate those who dare oppose you."

"I don't really want to. Intimidate people, I mean."

Susanoo sighed sadly. "Sometimes I wonder why I bother teaching you…"

"So do I." Fate said honestly. "In fact, I really wish you wouldn't."

"Miss Testarossa, would you like us to assist you?" the field commander of the containment team asked, breaking into what he (Correctly) assumed to be a not-terribly-important conversation.

Susanoo rolled his eyes. "As if you could…" he muttered under his breath.

Fate ignored him, and smiled at the man. "No, please… I'm afraid my combat style requires a fairly open battlefield. If you stay here I'm likely to be running into you, so please return to the _Asura._"

"And the barrier? It won't hold up long without us maintaining it."

Fate's smile got just the slightest bit predatory. "Mr. Susanoo," she began.

"You can call me Susa, if you want. Or 'teacher'. Or…"

"Mr. Susanoo," She repeated. "That spatial tear you used to escape last time… will this barrier prevent it from opening?"

He smiled in delight. "Good eye! No, it opens from somewhere outside of what we think of as reality, so most dimensional wards won't do a thing. If I'm ordered to flee, there's really nothing you can do to stop me except physically preventing me from going into the portal."

Fate turned back to the _Asura_ mages. "If the barrier falls, then it falls. Please, I'm sorry, but none of you are above C-class, right? I'm afraid you'd really just be targets to him.

With a curt nod, the containment team fell back. After a few moments, they dissolved into white light.

Susanoo smiled. "Finally, I have you all to myself."

* * *

"Dimensional Drive unit serial #02, commence immediate gate interface, and reprogramming. Function ready, target coordinates ready. Command execute." Tsukuyomi ordered. As expected, the small gem burst into green light before zipping off to reprogram the Gate. This particular one appeared to be submerged in one of the larger oceans, making it simpler for her particular brand of magic to find. It was a shame they hadn't started closer to the coast, they could have been gone by now.

The Drive unit had made it about half-way to the target, when a thin pink beam of light struck it, halting its progress and drawing it off course. Tsukuyomi watched in confusion as the driver veered, following the pink light and disappearing into a familiar staff.

"It's been awhile since I had to use Sealing Mode." Nanoha said. "And since this Gate wasn't even partially active yet, I didn't have to worry about it eating my spells. Right?"

"You again…" Tsukuyomi said somewhat sleepily. "Nanoha Takamachi…"

"… Thank you _so much_." Nanoha said, momentarily overjoyed at being addressed by her proper name by an opponent for the first time in… well, actually, since Fate and Vita had not, to her memory, done so until after their respective feuds with her were already over, the first time in _ever_.

"For what…?"

"Nothing, never mind." Nanoha said hurriedly.

"…Could you please return my drive unit? I really do need it."

"How about we make a deal? If you can just tell me what you're planning to use these Gates for, I'll give it back. Even if it's something that I can't let you go through with, I'll give you a fair chance to take your drive unit from me in combat as long as you just talk to me first. Otherwise, I'll head back to the _Asura _right now and you'll never see this thing again!"

_What do I do… I must get the Drive unit back… but I cannot reveal the Rebirth details to an agent of the Bureau, her majesty's orders were very clear on that subject. _Tsukuyomi thought. _I should use subterfuge._

"We plan to use the gate to transport a wide variety of small, fluffy animals across the universe. This will make everyone very happy, because small, fluffy animals are very nice. Please return the unit now." Tsukuyomi said.

"… … … you're a really awful liar, you know."

_Oh, no. She saw through my deception, what should I do… her majesty will be very angry with me, and big brother may make fun of me. That would be unpleasant… what should I do, what should I do…_

"… _Please _return the drive unit?" She asked. Perhaps politeness would sway the strange, loud girl.

"You said please the first time you asked. The answer is still no."

_Oh, no. I've repeated strategies. What should I do? What should I do? _Tsukuyomi thought. "… I shall give you a candy if you please return the drive unit?"

* * *

Far, far away, an unassuming man in an unassuming office nodded once to an equally unassuming man on his comm screen. "Commence operation." He said. "Prep the combat team to move in, and order the observer unit to pull away and put up the cloak. The whole package; sensory, communication, transport... I want the _Asura _blind, deaf, and crippled."

"Done, sir."

* * *

Several kilometers away from the battlefield, a small machine hovered.

Nobody currently engaged was aware of this, of course. Even if they had been actively looking for this device, it would have been difficult to find; it was wrapped in the finest anti-detection spells available, and built with the latest in modern stealth technology. And of course, the most basic aspect, visual detection, had been considered… while it wasn't exactly _tiny, _it wasn't much larger than, say, a watermelon, and the outer shell was composed of a chameleon-esque material that carefully mimicked whatever background it was against. Spotting it in the wide sky would have been virtually impossible.

Two separate cameras focused in two directions, simultaneously observing the two pairs of mages and transmitting the data to a secure facility. Upon receiving a transmission of its own, namely that the combat unit would soon be arriving, it immediately ceased transmission and set down. All available power would be needed for the next task it needed to perform. The small machine began to hum with power as it carried out its orders.

* * *

Nanoha sighed sadly. "Chrono? I have the Logia, and she won't negotiate, so please bring me back to the ship."

Raising Heart loyally transmitted its master's command back to the _Asura._

Nothing happened.

The light of the teleport feed did not enshroud Nanoha. Chrono's voice did not come over the communicator in Raising Heart in reply. Indeed, nothing happened to provide any indication that her transmission had been heard at all.

"Chrono? Do you read me?"

Silence.

Tsukuyomi leveled her staff in Nanoha's direction.

"Well, that's not good." Nanoha said, dropping into a combat stance.

**

* * *

**

"Chrono, something's wrong. We've lost communications with the field team." Amy said.

"Of course we have. Because that's something that could go wrong, and my first major command just had to be full of those." Chrono grumbled. "How are they jamming us? At last scan the only barrier on the planet was ours."

"That's still the case, and I'm not picking up anything I'd call a jamming field. The comm just plain refuses to connect, and I can't pull up a visual either." Amy said in frustration.

"Could it be an equipment failure?"

"Everything's green on our end, and I double checked by bouncing a signal off an automated relay beacon. We just can't get in touch with that one, specific world. So unless Nanoha _and_ Fate both lost their comms at the _same time_, we're not looking at an equipment-related problem." Amy said.

"All right… for now, we'll just have to keep trying to penetrate it. There's not much else we _can _do." Chrono said. "Those girls are the best. We'll just have to hope they can hold out without us looking over their shoulders for a little bit…"

After a moment of silence, Amy observed that Chrono was gripping the arms of the Captain's chair so hard his knuckles had gone white. "You wish you were out there, huh?"

"Do you have to ask?" Chrono responded simply. "I should never have accepted this promotion…"

"You're doing fine, Chrono. It's just that you're doing fine _at _is a lot more frustrating than being out in the center of the action." Amy said helpfully.

"Doesn't change the fact that I wish I was down there with them." Chrono said. "And speaking of people I wish were down there… where the _Hell _are Yuuno and Arf?!"

* * *

"This is all your fault!" Yuuno said frantically as he dove into the massive pile of paperwork. "You were just supposed to intimidate him, but noooooo!"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that one little nibble would make everyone go crazy?" Arf said defensively. The warden, a large, and somewhat greasy man who clearly didn't care for either his job or his visitors, narrowed his eyes.

"When Chrono said 'some paperwork' he should have mentioned that it would be about enough for me to make a bed out of the sheets! If I'd known I was going to spend this entire mission filling out forms, I'd have stayed in the Library!" Yuuno snapped.

"Hee, hee… you know, it's weird, but I'm glad we got to do this together. It's kind of comforting to know you're the same old spaz under that confident new exterior, Yuuno." Arf said, smiling cheerfully.

"Oh, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself!"

_FERRET! Are you not ready for transmit _yet_?! _Chrono shouted into his head.

_Blame your sister's crazy pet! Why did I even bring her along?!_

_To scare people. But that's beside the point! I need you back, yesterday! _

_Well excuse me! You didn't tell me that I'd have to fill out more criminal report forms than if Arf had actually _murdered _the guy. If you need me out of here so fast, you're going to have to talk to the warden yourself, because I've already been arrested once today and I'm not risking it again by ticking this guy off! _

_Fine! Just give me a second. _Chrono finished. A few seconds later, the monitor on the warden's wall beeped once to indicate an incoming transmission. The man, curious as to why anyone would call him, pressed the receive button. Chrono's face appeared on the monitor and simply said, "Warden… Milione correct?"

"Yes, sir, Scarro Milione, warden of…"

"Yes, that's very nice. My name is Chrono Harlaown, Captain of the Time/Space Administration cruiser _Asura. _We are currently engaged in a full-scale magical battle with a pair of dangerous fugitives, and I need my entire combat crew. You are currently holding up some of my valuable combat resources and I'm afraid I need them back immediately."

"'Combat Resources'?" Arf sniffed. "I'm practically family, Chrono!"

"Now, Captain, you're fully aware that I'm doing all I can. Your people _have _committed a crime here, and I'm already playing fast and loose with the law as it is…"

"I don't play this card normally, but this is a crisis." Chrono interrupted. "My mother is an admiral, and she listens to me when I talk. If you don't let those two out of there and finish that paperwork yourself, I will talk to her. And by talking to her, I will see to it that you spend the rest of your career as a janitor in your own prison, and that the man who hates you most in all the universe will be found and made your new boss. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Harlaown sir." The warden said numbly.

Yuuno blinked. "Um… I guess we're ready for transport then."

Chrono narrowed his eyes.

"… ready for transport, _sir._" Yuuno said quickly.

"You had _better _be." Chrono said. "Okay, Amy, get them on their way."

There was a slight pause.

"_What do you mean you can't get a lock?!" _Chrono snapped, closing the link as he did.

Silence reigned in the warden's office.

"Offhand, I'm gonna say that something's gone wrong." Arf said.

* * *

"Axel shooter! _Shoot_!" Ten bright pink energy bullets form around Nanoha and then rushed out, spreading to surround Tsukuyomi and then converging on her at high speed.

"Suijin, physical shield."

"**Morph Wall." **The staff intoned. Rather than generating a barrier, however, it drew water up from the nearby ocean and wrapped it around Tsukuyomi in a series of tendrils that swatted away the incoming bolts.

"That's a new one…" Nanoha muttered.

"I told you before, didn't I? I am the guardian who represents the moon. The moon controls the tides, so all water is under Suijin's command." Tsukuyomi said. "Cut her down…"

"**Triton Spear." **The mass of liquid surrounding Tsukuyomi dissolved into a cloud of thousands of liquid needles that rushed towards Nanoha _en masse_.

"Shield me!" Nanoha snapped, holding out one hand.

"**Protection Powered.**" Raising Heart obliged. The mass cloud of water blades slammed into the pink wall of light, striking up sparks all along the half-dome. The onslaught continued for several painful seconds, but when it finally ceased, Nanoha's shield wasn't even visibly damaged.

_What is she planning? That was pretty clearly a spell for clearing out multiple, lightly armored targets. She had to know it wouldn't even scratch my defenses… _Nanoha thought.

Then she noticed that all of that liquid was, somehow, still floating in the air around her.

"Pull her beneath the waves…" Tsukuyomi commanded.

"**Aqua Tomb."**

The loose water swirled back together, snapping around Nanoha like an angry snake. She managed to extend her protection into a full sphere… which was, instants later, surrounded by another sphere made of water.

A sphere which immediately began to _squeeze._

"Come back!" Nanoha ordered.

Tsukuyomi looked down to see three of the pink energy bullets that she'd thought destroyed continuing to rush at her. Instantly she flew into evasive maneuvers, even as one of them passed so close to her she felt it burn through a few stray hairs.

_They're too fast. _She reasoned, noting as the shots passed her and turned around. _Escape is not an option. _Deciding she had no other choice, she raised her hand and projected a barrier to deflect the shots. The three hammer blows rocked her backwards, but the turquoise-silver star held…

"**Barrier Burst," **Raising Heart said. Nanoha's shield exploded, scattering the water bind. "Okay! Maximum power, Raising Heart!" The girl commanded.

"Suijin, lock on target." Tsukuyomi said, leveling her own weapon.

"**Divine Buster..."**

"**Howling Moon…"**

"_SHOOT!"_

"Fire."

Silver and pink light collided and briefly warred… but the result was quickly decided.

Eyes wide, Tsukuyomi muttered "Oh, dear," as the pink-white bolt tore through her own attack and roared towards her. The Divine Buster exploded, illuminating the sky for miles with pink light.

_Did I get her? The beam exploded, but it didn't feel like a direct hit… _Nanoha thought. And sure enough, when the smoke cleared, Tsukuyomi was nowhere to be seen. Nanoha began frantically scanning the sky, looking for any trace of the other girl.

_Where did she go?! She couldn't have teleported in such a short time, and she's nowhere in the air… where did she…_

_Below?! _Nanoha thought frantically, finally catching a sign of movement out of the corner of her eye.

Tsukuyomi shot up towards Nanoha like a comet. Rather than try to stop Nanoha's attack, she had briefly cut out her flight spell and gone into free-fall, then skimmed along the surface to get closer to the other mage. "Suijin, prepare for close combat."

"**Saber form, set up." **Suijin obliged, transforming into a long, slender silver blade, the turquoise gem now adorning the sword's hilt. Nanoha brought her staff into line just barely in time, catching the thin blade mere inches from her face.

"You seem to prefer long-distance combat." Tsukuyomi said, pressing her superior physical strength against the other girl and slowly moving the blade closer. "I see no reason to help you play to your strengths." She removed one of her hands from the hilt of her new sword and drew it back.

_Uh-oh. _Nanoha thought, remembering how Fate had gotten her concussion. To make matters worse, Tsukuyomi had not balled her hand into a fist, but held it flat, as if she intended to _spear_ Nanoha with the appendage in question.

She broke off from the blade lock and threw herself desperately to the side as the blow came, feeling a pain and warmth on her cheek as she didn't _quite _make it. Just a scratch, though. The sword that was certain to come next would definitely not be a scratch, though, and thus efforts should be made to avoid it. Nanoha shifted one hand of Raising Heart and moved her arm in a chopping gesture.

_Another bullet? _Tsukuyomi thought, assuming the gesture to be a recall for yet another delayed shot. Just for a second, she glanced over her shoulder…

And realized instantly that there was nothing coming, and she'd just done exactly what Nanoha had wanted her to do. This impression was reinforced in the next instant, when a solid metal bar collided with the back of her head.

Taking advantage of the brief stun to get a little distance, Nanoha raised her hand to her bleeding face. Just a small cut, and too low to get into her eyes. Not a problem.

"... ... ... did you just club me with your staff?"

"Yeah. Raising Heart isn't really much of an offensive melee weapon in this mode, but I didn't have time to set up anything else. I knew your back was only going to be turned for a second."

"That trick were you made me anticipate another bullet was fairly creative. I'll remember it for the future." Tsukuyomi said.

"Thanks," Nanoha said somewhat breathlessly.

"There's no need to thank me. We are enemies, after all." Tsukuyomi said. She shifted her blade in front of her like a fencer, one hand held behind her for balance. It looked very sophisticated, although the value of it while standing in midair was questionable.

"I don't think we really are. You're just doing your job, right? I'm the same way. There's no reason we have to be enemies forever just because we don't have a choice right now." Nanoha said warmly.

Tsukuyomi tilted her head to one side. "That is a rather naive point of view. You assume that we could simply bury our hostilities after a life-or-death conflict? Some might call it outright idiotic."

Nanoha winced. "Um… I'm not really sure what to say to that…"

"But… I don't dislike that thought. I can't say I hate naive optimists like you, Miss Takamachi." Tsukuyomi said with the closest to a smile that Nanoha had seen on her.

"Oh, well…" Nanoha began, filled with some slight confidence of reaching the girl for the first time.

"It's a shame that you've proven too great a threat for me to spare your life. I'm sure you understand that my mission comes first, and eliminating risks is just common sense."

"… darn."

"Commence attack, Suijin."

"**Dance of Illusions." **The saber said. The girl holding it blurred… and vanished.

_Not good._ Nanoha thought.

**

* * *

**

It was around the time that Fate flipped in midair and her heel caught him in the chin that Susanoo began to recognize that perhaps she'd been holding out on him.

Floating back, he raised his hand to his mouth and wiped a spot of blood from the side of his mouth. "Ouch. You know, I keep forgetting how fast you are until you smack me and I can't figure out how you did it. But last time you acted like you wanted to keep your distance…?"

"It occurred to me that the opposite might be better." Fate said, a slight grin on her face. "At close range, that huge weapon and your strength give you the advantage. But if I get _too _close, your Raijin's size makes it hard for you to maneuver. And since I'm faster than you, it's hard for you react quickly enough to hit me with your free limbs."

Fate felt she was starting to get a better measure of her opposition. Initially, she'd thought of him as somewhat like Signum, a combat junkie. But there was a difference, namely that Signum _enjoyed combat _while Susanoo _thought of combat as a game_. It was subtle, but she was starting to understand the difference.

Signum fought all out with a fierce joy right from the start, no matter who she was facing. She didn't hold back, even against an opponent that obviously couldn't defeat her. She always, _always _fought to win.

Susanoo, however, actively tried to make the battle as interesting as he could; pointing out mistakes, congratulating innovation, even just cheering her on. As long as he had a challenge, had _fun_, he genuinely didn't seem to care if he won or not.

It had been a little discomforting at first, but once she got used to it, Fate didn't really mind his eccentricities… and besides, she wouldn't have seemed very friendly if she hadn't responded in kind.

"Heh, heh… fast learner!" He congratulated. "But you're not going to win with such light blows…"

_Unfortunately, he's got a point. At ultra-close range I can attack almost at will because he can't bring that axe to bear quickly, but it's like hitting a brick wall. I can't do any serious damage through his personal shields without my large-scale cannon attacks, and if I take the time to charge one up, he'll be on me in seconds…_

"… and you didn't stop to consider that maybe you're not the first person to try this." He finished. "Raijin!"

Raijin's charge system spun into activation. "**Thunder Spirit!**" A blue aura immediately sprung into existence, crackling with electricity; not around the axe, but around the wielder.

"Personal enhan…?!" Fate began. She probably meant to say 'enhancement', but the boy with the rather large weapon was quite suddenly much closer than he'd been a second ago.

Faster… a speed boost, then. But Fate had never met a mage faster than herself, and even with an enhancement magic, he wasn't good enough.

She snapped Bardiche Haken into a defensive position, and lunged forward so her weapon would catch his on the shaft instead of the blade. It still struck so hard her arms hurt, but it was infinitely more bearable than a direct hit. And it gave her the opportunity to slide down his weapon and take a swing right at…

No, she wouldn't be falling for _that_.

She pushed off, taking some distance and instead swung her weapon at an angle. "**Arc Saber!**" it shouted, hurling the Haken blade.

"Oh, no you don't!" Susanoo chided her, swinging his own weapon in a disturbingly similar way.

"**Thunderclap!" **

The two energy blades met in midair, resulting in a rather hideous _screaming _noise as they attempted to cut through each other.

"I'm not done yet!" Fate said, "Bardiche! Take as much as you need, just blast through it!"

"**Blitz Rush!" **Bardiche shouted, loading a cartridge as it did so. The spinning of the flying yellow blade rapidly increased, finally breaking the stalemate as it ripped through Susanoo's attack and continued on to the caster.

He smiled.

His blue aura spell, upon touching the golden blade, _exploded _in a wave of lightning that briefly shrouded him in a small blue sphere. When the light cleared, both Fate's attack and Susanoo's aura were gone.

"That was an interesting spell. It enhances, shields, and attacks, all at once… I don't think I've ever seen one quite like it." Fate admitted, smiling slightly.

"Thanks! But it's really not so impressive… it only blocks one attack, and the speed boost isn't all that great. Plus it uses up a _ton _of energy, so I can't do it very often." Susanoo said cheerfully. "Still, it has its uses. The last person I used it on didn't figure it out fast enough and got himself fried, but you were too smart, I guess. Every time I think I have you figured out, you just go right ahead and make this more fun!"

Fate leveled her weapon. "Well, I try not to disappoint."

"Hmmm... well, if that's the case, maybe we should put the fight on hold to work on your dramatic declarations for a little bit? Because that's one area you're disappointing me in. Oh, and maybe we should work on your smile, because it's not bloodthirsty enough. You're rather small and cute, so you need to work extra hard to come across as a credible threat. Oh, and..." Susanoo said.

Fate sighed sadly. "Couldn't we just... fight?"

"M'Kay!"

* * *

"What is going _on_ Amy? First our communication cuts out, now we can't teleport either? Is this bloody ship falling apart on me?" Chrono asked irritably.

"I _told _you, it's not the equipment! I've _had _the engineers check _every inch _and it's _all fine_!" Amy said steadfastly. "And I know we're not being jammed, because there are no barriers in place except our own! Sensors are working fine, the planet is still _there_, I just… no active systems are functioning in relationship to it! The ship tells me 'yes, we can teleport someone to that place', but when I try to do it, nothing happens! I have no idea what's going on, Chrono!"

_If it's not an equipment failure… and it's not a jamming barrier… _Chrono thought. _It has to be outside interference of some kind, but what?! It's like our systems are being jammed, but they themselves can't _figure out _they're being jammed. Some kind of undetectable barrier? But I've never heard of that kind of thing... and that would mean it's not the suspects, since they used fairly normal time-sealing fields on Earth. _

"What's going on?!" Chrono hissed in frustration, one more time.

_

* * *

_

"Report?" said the man.

"The cloak went up without a hitch, sir. The _Asura _cannot interfere with the battle in any way, and they are receiving only the sensor data we choose to let them."

"And the Black Cat unit?"

"Engaging now. They will take the two unknowns, alive if possible, and silence all witnesses."

"Good. Damn shame about those girls. If we'd gotten the order to move even fifteen minutes earlier, we might have managed to cordon off the planet before they even arrived."

"Nothing to be done about it, sir. You know we can't leave witnesses."

"Of course, of course. Still, we should see they get nice funerals," The man said thoughtfully. "Tell the Black Cats to commence operations, won't you?"

And as the man in the unassuming office pondered that rather morbid thought, twelve figures in black flickered into existence on the unnamed planet at dimensional coordinates 1174382001.

And the operation began.


	8. Black Cats

**Author's Note: The next chapter is actually complete… this chapter, as it was originally, turned out to be roughly twice the usual length, so I decided to just go the distance and break it up into two chapters. I'll post the next one by this weekend, probably. More likely when I think up a chapter title that doesn't suck.  
**

**It was also a royal pain to write, unfortunately (to give you a hint? I actually went ahead, wrote most of the **_**next **_**next chapter, then came back to these two/big one. That's how much writer's block hit me). Even now, I'm not 100% sure I like how it turned out. But hey sometimes you just have to sit back, grit your teeth, and drive the plot. And just because I don't like it doesn't mean you won't, right? You seem like nice people. And well-groomed! Did I mention good-looking? Hmmm? What was that? Buttering you up to get more reviews? I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm probably just not smart enough to comprehend your genius-level thought processes, you magnificent creatures.**

**Chapter 7: Black Cats**

Each of them was _exactly_ the same size and shape, down to the millimeter. Each was also dressed head to toe in black… literally. From the crowns of their heads to the soles of their boots, not a single inch of exposed tissue could be seen on any one of them, and their outfits were armored and bulky to the point they couldn't even be reliably described as 'male' or 'female'. The outfits had no markings or distinguishing characteristics; there weren't even any eyeholes in their helmets. They only way they could be told to be 'people' and not simply empty suits of armor was the fact that they moved. And even then, they might have been mistaken for machines if they hadn't been moving just a _bit _too organically to be robotic.

They floated serenely for a few moments, each one briefly gazing about to take in their surroundings. Then, without a word, they split into two groups of six, each of which began to fly towards one of the two battlefields.

* * *

When it began, it moved quickly.

Susanoo held his glowing blade above him, gathering power into the weapon. The smile on his face suggested that he was, once again, planning to just blast the entire battlefield into small pieces and that he would _not _be falling for any clever tricks with Sonic Form this time around, so Fate had better think of something new. Fate, for her part, had reasoned that she could probably launch a big attack faster than he could, and a sphere of golden light gathered in her palm, ready to be fired in just a few seconds.

Nanoha drew her head back quickly as Tsukuyomi's saber slashed lightly through the space where it had been a second ago, watching in dismay as a few of her hairs began the long, slow fall to the ground. 'Dance of Illusions' had turned out to be a rather annoying spell, but at least she knew that one of the _several _Tsukuyomis running around the battlefield was actually the real one, so as long as she could defend against all of them at once, she wouldn't need to blindfold herself this time (thank heavens for small favors. _That _had not been anything she cared to repeat). Nanoha was thinking of ways she might gain some distance, and at the moment she was beginning to think that if she went straight down and fired a Divine Buster directly into the ocean, the resulting explosion might make a good visual shield.

Then all four of them stopped.

* * *

Susanoo stopped smiling and lowered his weapon. This alone was enough to clue Fate into the fact that something had clearly gone horribly wrong. "Fate… Raijin sort of sucks at the sensitive stuff, so I'm not even going to bother with a search spell…"

"**Hey!"**

"… but did you just feel something weird?"

Since she _had, _in fact, felt something weird, Fate stepped back and lowered Bardiche. She closed her eyes and extended her senses. It was difficult… this world was more dead than alive, which meant it's natural magic was somewhat hard to sort through. "It's hard to be sure. It appeared and then disappeared very quickly, but I agree that there was some kind of reaction."

"Yeah, I thought…" Susanoo began. Then he noticed something he hadn't before.

Namely, that a large blade had stabbed deep into his left shoulder from behind.

It was a triangular blade of black metal, like the tip of a spear, and it was attached to a chain. The chain was, in turn, connected to the wrist of a figure in black that was floating behind him and which he would swear had not been there just a second ago.

"Huh." He said, not quite certain just yet what had happened. He was looking over his shoulder, right at the piece of black metal that had pierced his barrier jacket and the blood running down his back, but he didn't seem to be taking it as badly as he probably should have been. "So… you clearly have some kind of stealth shielding? I'm sorry if I seem a little off, it's just that, well, this looks like it should hurt but it doesn't really, so I don't think my mind is quite processing it correctly…"

"Tear it out! Before…" Fate screamed.

Two more blades struck him from other angles, one in the center of the chest (from directly behind Fate, much to her surprise) and one in the top of his other shoulder.

**Target immobilized. **A voice said. It didn't seem to be coming from any of the three black-clad figures that had set their hooks into Susanoo… more like it was coming from the air between them.

Three? Make that six.

**Containment Skill: Chains of Prometheus. **The three new figures, floating in previously empty spaces, extended their hands toward Susanoo. Black mist began to rise around the speared mage, quickly obscuring him from view completely in a black sphere.

The entire process had taken a little less than a minute. Without a word, the assailants who had speared Susanoo withdrew the chains, minus the blades still trapped within the containment barrier.

And then all six of them turned to face her. And each of them raised one hand in her direction. And from each of six wrists, a small barrel that was clearly some sort of weapon emerged from their armor. **Assault Skill: Perfect Assassin.**

Fate, recognizing that standing still was probably not the best idea right at that moment, _moved_.

The six weapons leveled in her direction filled the sky with streaks of purple light. The problem was not that they were terribly powerful, but that every possible avenue of escape was covered… it was as if her unknown attackers had each chosen a possible route for her to evade and somehow silently let the others know which path they were going to cover. No matter which way she chose, at least one hit was a guarantee, and if she stayed still to put up a barrier, they would just batter her down with rapid fire. She broke left, moving with as much speed as she could pull off without thinning her armor, and as predicted, winced in pain as a neat circular burn emblazoned itself on her left leg. Still, her Barrier Jacket's personal shields took most of the impact, and only the one shot seemed to have hit.

"Bardiche, counter-attack!"

"**Assault Form, get set. Photon Lancer, scatter shot!" **The glowing golden missiles fired with impressive speed, utilizing the stored energy she'd been planning to fire at Susanoo a few moments ago. She'd chosen a wide-range attack, reasoning that with such a tight formation, not all of them would be able to get clear; basically an inverse of the same tactic that had just worked fairly well on her. To her surprise, however, only three of them even tried, flying out to take up flanking positions around her. The other three actually closed ranks, not moving from the space where her fire would hit hardest.

**Defensive Skill: Unity Wall.**

The three targets each held up one palm, and a translucent veil of dark… something… appeared between them and her attack. The bolts struck with just as much force as she had planned, but still reflected harmlessly from the barrier they raised. And now she was surrounded, and the others were preparing to open fire again…

* * *

"Any luck, Amy?"

Amy cast him a glare that could have melted granite. She didn't say it out loud, of course, but it basically screamed 'If I had good news, don't you think I would have said something?'.

"Okay, we need to try this from a new perspective. If the _Asura_'s teleport system is non-functioning, maybe a personalized feed would work."

"Personalized teleportation to somewhere you've never been and that you aren't attuned to in the slightest, while a confrontation between AAA class mages is occurring on-site? Even if you made it through all right, you'd be useless once you arrived." Amy said, and realistically, she wasn't wrong. The reason most people used machines to get around was that personal teleportation wasn't terribly energy efficient, and it got worse if the caster had never been where they were trying to go. The strain could be minimized if the mage was somehow attuned to the location in question, like Fate with the Garden of Time. Or if the mage had several qualified companions to help them handle the strain, like the Wolkenritter had commonly done.

Of course, Chrono actually had neither of these things. What he had was a planet he'd never even _heard _of and a team of mages that were already half-exhausted from trying to contain an opponent who was considerably out of their weight class. And the ambient magic from the battle on-site just made things even worse.

Of course again, Amy delicately refrained from bringing up the fact that _the Captain was supposed to stay with the ship_.

Chrono nodded once. "That's why I'm not going myself. Bring Arf and Yuuno here with the ship's systems. Then I'll send them to Nanoha and Fate personally. It'll be hard to be accurate, but at least they'll be on the right _world_. It's a step in the right direction."

"That's even worse! Do you really have enough energy to manage two people?"

"I can tap the _Asura's_ reactors for a boost. That should give me the raw muscle I need."

"But…"

"If we shut down most of our systems, it should make the reactor stable enough to safely siphon power from." Chrono said, shooting down her next protest before she could pull it off. "It's not as though we're using the thing for anything else, at the moment."

Amy sighed. "Okay, okay. If you're dead set on this, I'll get Yuuno and Arf back to the ship." She turned back to her panel, hit a few buttons… and froze.

"… Amy?" Chrono asked hesitantly. "What's wrong?"

"GAAAAAAAAAAH!" Amy shrieked.

"Not working, huh?"

"How the… what the… when the…" Amy sputtered. "How the _Hell _did they do this to my _Asura?!"_

"… 'Your' _Asura?"_

"It's not working Chrono! Again, it's not working! It's like someone is watching each and every individual thing I try and only letting me do the things they _want_ me to do! This is so much more annoying than just normal jamming I can't stand it!"

Chrono's eyes narrowed. "… Huh." He said.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I… I hope I'm wrong, but I think I know what the problem is. Or at least, I have a fairly good idea. Oooooh, someone's going to pay for this…"

"What? What do you mean, Chrono?"

"I don't have time to explain it right this second, unfortunately. For now, just shut down everything but life support, all other systems totally dark. We can't trust anything the main computer says. I'm going to go interface with the power core."

Amy's eyes widened. "Chrono, this plan was dangerous enough when you were just handling half the trip. You're really going to try the whole thing? What are we gonna do if you blow your head up by accident?!"

Chrono smiled. "We don't have many options right now, Amy. My people are in danger. I wouldn't be much of a captain if I didn't do everything in my power to help them, right?" He said, and began the trek down the _Asura'_s engineering bay.

Amy, for her part, did not blush. Not even a _little_, no matter what anyone said. He was just a kid, after all, even when he did say cool things like that.

* * *

Yuuno yawned.

Arf scratched behind her ear.

Warden Milione said, "So… um… you kids want a mint or something? I think I got some mints."

"Um… sure." Yuuno said.

"I guess so." Arf said.

The warden looked through his desk. "Huh. I must be out."

"Oh."

"Sorry."

"No, it's all right. Not your fault."

"I just feel bad for offering you a mint when I didn't have any."

"No problem." Arf said.

Silence fell.

Silence landed.

Silence lay there on the ground like a dead fish.

"You know, we're missing the fight, Yuuno. The two of us, we're missing the fight, right now."

"I know, Arf."

"I'm just hoping this isn't going to become a common thing, you know? I mean, let's face it; we don't get to do as much as we used to. Fate doesn't need me to help her that much anymore, and Nanoha is like a tiny engine of destruction, so she really doesn't need you shielding her too badly. I hope we don't get kind of… you know, phased out."

"Well, my new job is pretty time-consuming, and as Fate gets more powerful it's only natural she'd rely on you less for combat and more for other things. But I'm sure they wouldn't phase us out entirely, right? We'll be right there at their sides every time a big crisis pops up, you just watch." Yuuno said confidently.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"I mean, when lives are in danger, they certainly wouldn't just leave me in the library without telling me anything, or just… I don't know, leave you at home to clean or watch the house. They'd call us."

"Yeah, they would." Arf agreed. "But… well, what if they _replace_ us? What if they find some new guys, and they just replace us? Fate's always wanted kids when she grows up. What if she grows up, becomes a mom, and her kids replace me? And Nanoha, she's always saving people and making new friends. What if she finds some new people and they replace you?"

"Oh, that would never happen. I mean, I'm the one who taught Nanoha magic in the first place. And you're Fate's only family. They wouldn't just _replace_ us. We're much too important."

"… I'm sure you're right." Arf said.

Silence fell again.

Silence fell, and fell, and fell.

Conveniently enough,a brilliant blue light chose that moment to flood the office, disrupting the very awkward silence. With identical squawks of surprise, Yuuno and Arf vanished.

The warden smiled. "I wasn't out of mints at _all_. I just didn't want to give _you _any." He said smugly, popping a mint into his mouth.

* * *

Three black blades shot through the sky at the little girl in the blue dress… and a silver saber intercepted each and every one. In a shower of sparks, all three were harmlessly knocked aside.

"Your stealth technology is quite impressive." Tsukuyomi asked mildly. "Not impressive enough to fool my senses, but I imagine a less sensitive mage would have been quite fooled. Very nice."

The figures in black did not answer, merely drew back and regrouped, withdrawing their weapons as they did. They did not seem terribly distraught that their initial assault had failed… merely as though they now had to reconsider their initial strategy, and were choosing to evaluate their options.

Tsukuyomi supposed that was a wise decision to make, but she had no intention of allowing them to do it. But first, she should make certain of…

A distortion in her sensory field caught her attention. _More of them? My, that stealth shielding _is_ good._

She spun to answer the new threat, but she needn't have bothered. The target for the incoming assault was not herself, but the bureau mage. Luckily, Nanoha's senses seemed to be rather sharp as well, and she managed to raise a barrier sufficient to deflect the energy volleyed against her. Her return fire was equally smooth and sharp… and totally ineffective, as the three figures that had attacked her came together to generate a single shield that repelled the pink blast. They were, apparently, sufficiently impressed that they chose to regroup with their comrades, however.

The two girls floated, measuring up the six hostile figures sharing the sky with them. "They are not your allies, I take it?" Tsukuyomi asked.

"I don't have any allies that attack me." Nanoha said tersely. Her tone then became thoughtful. "… Well, except Vita, sometimes. But that's mostly just in fun."

Tsukuyomi nodded once. "Very well. In that case, take my wing while I test their defenses."

"Wait, wh-"

Without another word, Tsukuyomi lunged. She struck only once, a light blow with her sword, but the figure she had targeted was quickly joined by another, and together they projected a barrier to repel her. She instantly zipped backwards and brought her sword into a vertical slash, saying as she did, "Cut through it."

"**Crescent Moon Dance.**" Suijin said. The blade developed a silvery-turquoise aura that extended several feet from the actual sword, allowing her to take another slash from a greater distance… which was repelled when a third intervened to strengthen the existing black barrier. The three not engaged in defense attempted to snare her again with their chains, but she nimbly skipped back to take up position next to Nanoha.

"… … … I thought I told you to take my wing. Why did you not defend me?" Tsukuyomi asked with just the slightest hint of annoyance.

"Well, you should have given me more warning! I didn't think you were going to rush right at them! And when did we join forces?!" Nanoha asked.

"We have a mutual enemy, so we are allies for now. That's only natural." Tsukuyomi said simply. "Although, I suppose I could kill you now and then deal with them… or kill them now and then deal with you… or perhaps I could let you kill each other and deal with the winner. Yes, actually, I think that last one will work rather well, so let's do that."

"No, no, I don't mind working together," Nanoha said quickly.

Without the slightest change of expression, Tsukuyomi said. "Oh, then you do wish for a truce? That's good. Since we are allies now, you should return my Drive unit…"

"No."

"… ah."

* * *

They were far from the most powerful opponents Fate had ever faced, but they might just have been the most annoying.

She'd managed, with a little effort, to get around their shields and break their formation, only to find that the results were less than stellar. They simply shrugged off maneuvers that should have rendered a person of the power they'd shown unconscious, and stopping to focus an attack on one left her open to the others. And of course, they typically managed to get back into formation within seconds of being knocked out.

They were wearing her down. Slowly, tediously, but relentlessly.

She sighed sadly. The sad fact of the matter was, she knew what needed to be done right now. It was sort of a risk, but she didn't _think _it would backfire on her. Probably.

"Bardiche? We're going back to close combat. Their reflexes seem to be better at distance."

"**Haken Form!" **Bardiche obliged, once again sprouting its scythe blade.

This, of course, was a lie, and Bardiche knew that. She knew full well that at close combat, one of them would attempt to hold her still while the other five surrounded her; she'd already _tried_ that. But she was savvy enough to realize that blurting out her actual plan in front of them was probably a bad idea.

She rushed the enemy, and as expected they broke ranks to leave her just one target who was, in turn, rushing to meet her. Rather than actually engage him in melee, she came to a sudden stop and hurled the Haken blade directly at his head. Of course, the attack was blatantly obvious, and the figure in black dodged it with relative ease.

Exactly as planned.

Fate raised Bardiche, catching her attacker's wrist-mounted blade on her device, and gritted her teeth as the others took up firing positions. Two long, _long _seconds passed. _Come on, come on! _She couldn't afford to look, but the Arc Saber had to have hit its real target by now…

A gigantic silver blade swung through the air between her and her attacker, lopping off its left arm at the elbow. The sudden absence of pressure on her weapon allowed her to shove the man away with ease and get out of the fire zone, the barrage the other assassins launched passing harmlessly through empty air.

The attacker who had just lost a limb drew back, sparks flying from the stray wires that dangled from his severed arm, revealing the circuitry inside. Fate sighed in relief. They were automatons, then… that helped. They'd moved so organically that they thought they'd been people in bodysuits for awhile, but their precision had just screamed 'combat computer'. Even now that she could _see _the circuitry, she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was very off about them, though…

Susanoo floated next to her, weapon at the ready. The blades that had been used to immobilize him were still sticking into his body, although he didn't really seem to mind. "Thanks, Fatie! It would have taken me a long time to get out of there if you hadn't lent me a hand."

"That was the general idea. Although you might have made sure that was a machine before you cut its arm off." Fate said.

Susanoo put on an expression that could best be described as 'recently kicked puppy'. "But… but I was helping! That guy, he was really trying to kill you, Fate! Besides, he doesn't really seem to mind! He didn't scream or anything!"

"Yes. I know. That's because he's a robot." Fate said patiently.

"Um… you sure about that, Fate?" Susanoo said, holding up Raijin for her inspection.  
There was blood on it.

Fate's eyes widened, and she turned her gaze to look at the recently de-limbed assassin. No, there was definitely circuitry in the wound… but now that she looked, blood _was _slowly dripping from it as well, albeit not nearly as much as such an enormous wound should have produced. There was… there was living tissue worked into the machinery? Her eyes wide with some combination of shock and horror, Fate managed to stutter, "W-what the… what _is _that?!"

"You mean besides 'creepy'? My first thought was some kind of cyborg, but I hit some organic components, so a true cyborg would be, y'know, screaming in agony right now. Maybe they're…" Susanoo began. Then, in a sudden blur of motion, he raised his weapon and used it to bat away three incoming blades. "HEY! I was talking over here! Geez, how annoying…"

The three assassins that had once again attempted to immobilize him withdrew their weapons back into their armor, exchanging them for the energy cannons they'd been using on Fate.

"I don't think they're trying to take you alive anymore." Fate warned him, dropping into a battle stance.

"Hmmmm… that's okay." Susanoo said, his smile going distinctly evil. "I was thinking of killing them too. They're pretty disgusting creatures, and they've really managed to annoy me, so I think that ripping them to pieces until they regret having such durable bodies sounds fun. You agree, Raijin?"

**"Very much!" **Raijin agreed.

Fate just stared at him, her jaw hanging slightly open.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. I'm not doing it to _you_." He said, rolling his eyes.

**"We're not?" **Raijin asked in a very disappointed tone.

* * *

"GAAAAAAH! OUCH! Oh, OW!" Arf said. "That… was… the… worst… teleport… ever!"

"Did someone drop a refrigerator on my brain…?" Yuuno muttered, face-down on the floor.

"Don't complain yet, it's only half done." Chrono said through gritted teeth. His face was covered in sweat, and he was floating above the _Asura'_s central power source, shrouded in so many mystic circles and glowing so brightly it was hard to look directly at him.

"Chrono? You brought us here yourself? I thought we were too far away for that…" Yuuno said dully, managing to raise his head briefly. "OW! Oh, that's too bright…"

"Sorry about the bumpy ride. I've never been to where you were, I've never been to where you're going, it was too far for me to send you in one jump, and I'm kind of cheating on the magical power supply. It's working so far, but it's also really sort of painful for everyone involved."

"Chrono, are you okay?" Arf asked in a concerned tone, noting something she hadn't before… namely, the thin trail of blood flowing out of Chrono's ear.

_Man, I hope so_. Chrono thought. "I'm fine," He said.

"Maybe you should take a break. You're clearly handling way too much magic there. Let Yuuno take a look at you…"

"No time. Power accumulation complete, commencing dimensional transfer. Coordinates are as follows: 1174382001-222304-335564974-0199038…"

Arf continued to watch with concern in her eyes. Dimensional coordinates first, then planetary, then latitude and longitude. Once again, Arf was struck with the thought that Chrono shouldn't be doing this by himself. Fate had been able to pull off an accurate personal transport for two to the Garden of Time, but she had also spent most of her life there and her magic couldn't have been more attuned to it. When going from the Garden to Earth, they had always used the Garden's built-in transportation systems. The last time Arf had tried teleporting under only her own power, she'd just aimed for anywhere she'd been before and prayed, and it had still left her a wreck afterward. Granted, she'd been wounded, but it had also been a rather modest spell in comparison to what Chrono was trying to pull.

Still, despite the obvious pain, he clearly managed _something_, because light rose up around the two people on the floor once again, and they vanished the same way they'd appeared. This was good, because it meant they weren't subject to the sight of Chrono unceremoniously falling out of the air to crumple on the floor.

_Amy?_ He thought. He really, _really_ hoped he'd actually _sent _that thought, because he frankly couldn't be sure.

_Yes, Chrono? Did everything go all right?! Do you need help?! _Amy responded in something approaching panic.

_Reinforcements successfully sent. But I'm trying to move right now, and not having much success. If you could please have someone from Medical come down here? I think I'm just exhausted, but I should probably get checked out anyway.  
_

_Yes, of course, right away! _Amy replied. _Oh, and… um… good job, Captain._

_Thanks, Amy. Now if you'll excuse me, I could probably use some rest._ Chrono thought contentedly._ Heh. She called me 'Captain'. That was nice_.

He really hoped he hadn't sent that last thought…


	9. Monsters

**Author's Note: Okay, two people reacted the same way to the same thing, so I thought I should make an attempt to justify myself… although they were right, so that'll be kind of hard.**

**Nanoha's response to Tsukuyomi in the last chapter. Yeah, it was a little bit out of character for Nanoha, I'll grant that. I'm choosing to approach it from the perspective that she was just, you know, shocked. A big part of Susanoo's constant bombastic goofiness is to make people not notice that Tsuku is, by far, the more ruthless of the two. He goes out of his way not to kill opponents who aren't trying to kill him, and her… well, I realize that lines like 'If you only had one arm you would have to retreat' might sound like throwaway gag lines, but what happens if you take them literally? She's the sort of person that really does consider permanent maiming to be 'taking it easy' and she's 100% serious when she tells Nanoha that although she doesn't **_**dislike **_**her, she **_**does **_**plan to kill her. **

**Nanoha doesn't experience that very often… actually, at this point, only one person she's fought has attacked with truly lethal intent, and that was the mad-with-grief Reinforce/Hayate. To make matters worse, there really is no hostile intent… 'killing Nanoha' is about as important to Tsukuyomi as 'picking up the dry cleaning', just something that needs to be done. And even without that, her odd combination of 'head in the clouds' and 'the Terminator' would have been off-putting in the best of circumstances. So when this openly murderous girl suddenly turns around and says they are now on the same side, without the slightest build-up or even so much as a 'wanna work together?' she kind of didn't know how to process it. Which is what I was going for… Tsuku's thought processes are supposed to be just shy of incomprehensible much of the time. But, as you pointed out, I probably had Nanoha be confused in the wrong **_**way...**_** she **_**is **_**one of the top ten friendliest people in existence, after all, and Tsuku's plan, while sudden, was something she should have agreed with instantly.**

**At this point, all I can do is remember that for next time, but thank you for pointing it out. The little details are important, and if I blow one of them, it's nice to hear about it so I don't do it again. I'm not the sort to get angry at constructive criticism… I won't always agree with it, as I did this time, but I'll at least **_**listen. **_

**Author's Note 2: Heh, heh… remember how I said this chapter would be up by the weekend? Well, turns out I'm incredibly lazy and decided to spend the weekend playing **_**Fire Emblem **_**instead. Sorry about that. **

**Author's Note 3: Wow, I babbled for a long time up there.**

**Chapter 8: Monsters**

_Listen closely, our strategy is as follows. _Tsukuyomi said telepathically. Nanoha chose not to question exactly how the girl had managed to establish the telepathic contact link so quickly and without even asking, but decided that she'd already let Tsukuyomi throw her off her game enough and should probably just stop being flustered when she did something weird.

_My close range capabilities are superior to yours, so I will engage them in melee and attempt to get several focused on me. They seem to want to take me alive, so I should have an easier time countering their attacks. You will then use your high-level distance attacks to isolate and destroy any that are separate from the group attacking me._

_Hmmm… well, it _sounds _good, but that barrier they use isn't exactly magic. I couldn't really tell if I came close to breaking it before or not._

_Most likely they are using group tactics to compensate for individual weakness. I suspect that at least three of them would have to work together to repel your fire. _

_And what do we do if you're wrong?_

_I am not._

_Humor me._

_Ummm… uh… well… um… I don't really know any jokes… _Tsukuyomi thought in a somewhat confused tone. _I… I did download some files concerning Earth culture, and I believe there might have been some humorous anecdotes in them. Something about a creature native to Earth called a 'chicken' attempting to cross a path for wheeled vehicles…_

… _not that kind of humor. I was just saying that we should have a backup plan in case this one doesn't work. _

_Oh. That is a relief. _Then she attacked.

Following her sudden charge, Tsukuyomi snapped her blade to the left, knocking aside the black figure's defending hand and striking a light blow to its face. No visible damage was inflicted, unfortunately; the sword struck up a gouge in the black armor, but didn't pierce through to flesh. What _did _happen, however, was that two others used their advantageous position to open fire on her. Purple streaks of light flew through the air… and were intercepted by pink streaks of light as Nanoha shot them out of the sky.

Tsukuyomi briefly sighed in frustration, despite the realization she'd just been saved from taking a hit. _You were supposed to launch a major attack once I had them separated. Why did you defend me? _

But rather than dissipating on impact, the pink spheres kept going and began to home in on the black killers, striking from target to target like a pinball. Each individual strike was weak, yes, but there were eight bullets in the air, and the five figures could not lower their defenses long enough to get close to each other for a coordinated effort.

In other words, the one currently battling Tsukuyomi had no means of getting support.

_See? Sometimes it's good to have more than one plan._ Nanoha thought cheerfully.

It was not, Tsukuyomi decided, a terribly bad bit of improvisation. The assassins were definitely more dangerous than normal humans, but one-on-one, they were not much threat to a skilled mage. Rather than deciding to take the risk that her large, slow attacks really wouldn't pierce their group shields, Nanoha had used small, fast attacks and essentially gotten the same results: the fight was reduced to a one-on-one confrontation, albeit only for a few moments.

Tsukuyomi did not intend to waste them. She held out one glowing hand, and chains of turquoise light sprung into existence, trapping her target's limbs. Assured a hit, she struck without hesitation, burying Suijin into the figure's chest up to the hilt.

Almost instantly, she realized her error.

She had struck for where the heart would be on a human, but the resistance to her sword was far too great for flesh and bone. She had just driven Suijin into an artificial being… and judging by the fact that it did not visibly express any discomfort, she had struck nothing vital.

**Defensive Skill: Magic Cancel. **That formless electric voice spoke once more, and her binding on the target's limbs shattered like glass. Instantly, one of his arms clamped on hers with surprising strength, preventing her from drawing her weapon free, while his other leveled that extendable wrist blade directly at her face. She considered exactly what she might do to escape from this situation, with Suijin, within the next two seconds…

A pink staff was thrust into the tiny space between her and the creature in black. "Shoot!" Nanoha commanded.

The brilliant blast of energy roared into the black figure's chest at point-blank range, hurling him backwards so quickly that Tsukuyomi nearly lost her grip on her device. The beam pushed him back nearly half a mile before detonating, filling the sky with pink light.

"Are you all right?" Nanoha asked warmly.

Tsukuyomi blinked a few times. Had that girl just saved her life? No, probably not her life, but she had at least spared her some serious discomfort. "… Thank you?" She said hesitantly.

Nanoha smiled brilliantly. "It was my pleasure. We're partners for right now, right?"

Tsukuyomi blinked a few more times. "Yes, but I did not expect you to honor it so fervently. I'll admit, a part of me thought your attempts at befriending me to be an effort to make me lower my guard…"

Nanoha's smile got even warmer. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not the kind of person who could do something that awful. I'm happy to work with you and get the chance to know you, even if we are on opposite sides most of the time. I meant it when I said that I don't want to be your enemy forever."

Tsukuyomi blinked a few _more _times. "Oh, my… you weren't trying to deceive me at all… you really _are _that childishly naïve. Now I'm going to feel rather guilty when I kill you…"

Nanoha's smile got a little bit nervous. "We-well, you could try _not _killing me… I think that would be nice…" she said. Then her already tenuous grin completely vanished. "You have _got _to be kidding…" She muttered, looking at the clearing smoke around the attacker she'd blasted.

He was, to her credit, mostly gone. Over half of the mechanical body had been simply obliterated. Both legs, one arm, and a portion of the torso were so much scrap… he must have used a shield to redirect the attack from his chest, but the beam had gone _around _it and burned through most of his limbs. And, on a deeply disturbing note, there appeared to be organic tissue visible among the circuitry; the implications were not entirely known to Nanoha, but she knew that they were very, very bad.

But its head was still there, it was still floating, and it didn't even seem to be in pain. And most importantly, a small green gem was serenely floating above his one remaining hand.

Nanoha's eyes widened. "W-what?! But that was… Raising Heart, what happened?!"

"**Unknown… no breach detected, but, object lost. Sorry, master…" **Raising Heart said apologetically.

_But Raising Heart was only near it for a second! How could it just override her security so quickly, without her even noticing?! _Nanoha's mind whirled, desperately trying to think of some explanation for how this could have happened.

* * *

"Sir? One of the units has made a successful recovery."

"Do we know what it has?"

"Not as such, sir, but preliminary readings are very impressive indeed. Unfortunately, the unit in question is extremely damaged and likely can't protect its finding on-site."

"Well then, withdraw it immediately. Really, that's just common sense. I'm a little annoyed you needed me to tell you this."

"Actually, I gave the retrieval order thirty seconds ago, just before I contacted you, sir."

"Oh. Well, good work, then."

"Thank you, sir."

* * *

"The driver…" Tsukuyomi said, her eyes glinting. "It cannot be permitted to flee with that device."

"**Device Form, set up. Lunar Teardrops." **Suijin said. Five silver-blue bullets fired… and each met a black figure, rocketing in to take the scattered shots. Not all of them even got their shields up in time, and consequently had fist-sized holes punched through their blocking limbs, but as with their thoroughly crushed partner, they didn't seem to notice the wounds.

"No… Suijin, fire again, quickly. You too, Takamachi, we must not…"

In a strange pattern that looked more like static than any teleport Nanoha had ever seen, the half-destroyed creature vanished, drive unit and all.

"P-primary mission objective… failed. Your majesty… I'm sorry…" Tsukuyomi said in a soft and slightly unsteady voice.

* * *

Enlil fell to her knees, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Impossible."

"**I am certain, master. The signal from the second drive unit has disappeared. Your knights have failed." **Yggdrasil said.

"That… that's not possible. They couldn't…" Enlil said.

Never. Not once, not in her entire lifetime, nor in any of the many lifetimes they'd lived both before and after, had her guardians once failed to achieve a mission. How could it have happened now? The mages of today were… a joke. Her knights, her guardian gods, should have been like dragons fighting insects when dealing with anything the modern world had to offer. Yet they'd been damaged so badly on their first mission, and now… the driver had been taken before activation could be achieved.

Something was terribly wrong.

"Yggdrasil. You said that their diagnostics were fine, didn't you?"

"**All parameters were green."**

"Then why… what's _wrong _with them?! This is… this isn't what they can do! These aren't my knights!" Enlil snapped.

"**I have no explanation, your highness."**

She sat for a moment, just thinking. Ever since she'd been a child, those three… Tsukuyomi, Susanoo, and Amaterasu, had always been a pillar of strength that no one had ever expected to see fall. Created as simple golems, sentient defense programs for the royal family, they had surpassed their designer's expectations at every turn and in every way. By the end of the first century of their activation, they were revered throughout the Empire, truly deserving of the nickname 'gods'. Far from being simple programs anymore, they well and truly _were_ the guardian gods of this world, and not a single soul in civilized reality had not heard of them.

The guardian gods of this world?

_This world._

"Dammit…" Enlil growled. "How could I have been so bloody stupid?!"

"**Your majesty?"**

"Get ready to support me, I'm opening the portals." Enlil said, rising to her feet. "It's past time we get my children back home before they get themselves killed by my incompetence."

* * *

Fate slashed her weapon at the creature's remaining arm, forcing its defenses on her.

It could only shield one direction by itself.

It had been separated from its allies.

From the opposite side, where it had no arm left to defend with, a silver axe swung in.

The massive blade ripped through the torso until it hit what was apparently the power source, causing its shield to fall. With no resistance, Bardiche ripped through it as well, the scythe and the axe meeting in the middle and passing each other on their way to the other side. The creature fell from the sky, ripped neatly in half.

Fate frowned. She hadn't meant to _do _that, but once her swing had started she hadn't been able to halt her momentum. She was still too uncertain of the nature of the things she was fighting to be comfortable just destroying them like that. She sighed, and took a little comfort in the fact that it had already been… dead? Non-functional? She wasn't sure, which was the problem… before Bardiche had ever hit; Susanoo had struck the lethal blow, not her. She didn't take _much _comfort, but took as much as she could.

Fate and Susanoo stood back to back, breathing heavily weapons at the ready to defend against the remaining attackers. It was a shame that only one of them was smiling, because it probably would have looked more intimidating if Fate had been matching Susanoo's psychotic grin.

"Must you be so violent?" Fate asked.

"Hey, it's not my fault they don't react to anything other than 'death'. If removal of a limb doesn't slow it down, I can't exactly afford to be gentle."

"I'll admit they are somewhat… frustrating."

"You said it. That was a lot of work to destroy just one." Susanoo agreed.

"The one that was already damaged, no less."

"They don't feel pain, they don't get tired, and getting them to stop supporting each other is like pulling your own teeth." Susanoo said. "I am having _so _much fun."

"You're an odd one, you know."

"Oh, ye… no. Oh, no…" He said as a black portal appeared in the sky, beckoning him.

"You're being told to leave?" Fate asked. "I'd obviously prefer not to lose the assistance, but I'm in no real position to stop you."

"No, it's not that… it's just that the Gate isn't active, which means… did something happen to Tsuku? No, no, I'd know if she was hurt…" He muttered. "Still, something's gone wrong, something's gone _really _wrong…"

"So what are you going to do?"

"I… huh. Well, I mean, I can't just ignore her majesty, but I can't leave you here all alone either, I'd never forgive myself if I just abandoned you..."

Fate smiled slightly. _That was actually rather sweet. _She thought.

"I mean, what kind of master just leaves his star pupil in the middle of such an uneven fight?"

"On second thought, you can leave. Go ahead." Fate said.

"Don't be like that, Fate! I'm really not sure what to do! It's a legitimate problem!" He whined.

"No. Really. I don't mind. Go right ahead. I'll be fine." Fate said with a smile. A big, fake smile.

"No! You know what? I'm staying! I don't even care if you want me to stay… no, it's better to say that I'm staying _because _you don't want me to! So take _that_!" He said triumphantly.

"Okay, that's fine too." Still with a bright fake smile... although it was rapidly becoming genuine as she realized that finally _she _was the one who had _him _flustered. She wasn't really _angry _anyway, so it was more just a little game than anything else.

"Well then I'm leaving after all!"

"Whatever you want to do."

"… … … _which choice will make you upset?!"_

"Neither."

Susanoo opened his mouth and closed it several times, but no words came out.

"Fine, I'll choose!" Said a third party. Fate's smile got even more genuine.

A bolt of glowing gold light shot through the sky and slammed into one of the assassins, striking it full in the back. Without any defenses ready, the blast sent the figure plummeting to the ground below, its mechanical frame badly smashed. "He stays." Arf said with a fierce grin, her arm still outstretched from her ambush. "After all, I owe him a good beating once we've mopped up these losers!"

* * *

"Are you going to be all right?" Nanoha asked. She sounded genuinely concerned, which just made the whole thing worse, actually.

"I… I failed… it was all my fault…" Tsukuyomi muttered.

"I'm sorry, but you need to snap out of it! They're not going to hold off forever!" Nanoha said firmly. "Now stand up! I need your help or we're both in trouble."

"… I cannot 'stand up'. We are floating in the air…" Tsukuyomi commented.

"Um… right… I guess. You know what I mean!" Nanoha said.

"Indeed." Tsukuyomi agreed. "Five targets still remain. Until this battle is completed, I will fight beside you, Nanoha Takamachi."

"Good to hear!"

Just then, a black tear opened in the sky.

"Oh, my. Well, it was nice to see you again, Miss Takamachi, but I'm being summoned… I suppose I do need to brief her majesty on this situation, so it's probably for the best. Good bye." Tsukuyomi said, floating away.

"Wh-what?! You're just leaving me here, just like that?!"

"Oh, yes… well, you are resourceful, so I'm sure you'll be fine…"

"But you just said we were partners until this fight was over! I thought we were…"

"Well, this fight _is_ over for me." Tsukuyomi said mildly. "Plus, with the drive unit gone, I really have no reason to stay. You can keep going if you want to, though… have fun…"

"_Have fun?! _Please don't say things like that with a straight face, it's really weird!"

"But Susa would have fun, and you're so loud and cheerful like him…"

"Don't lump me together with that guy who can't even remember my name!" Nanoha protested.

Tsukuyomi sighed. "I suppose I'm sorry, but I really must be going… oh, and by the way, they are about to shoot you in the back…" she finished, floating into the portal.

"But you can't just… wait, what?" She glanced over her shoulder to see the familiar bolts of violet light incoming. "Not good, not good!" She said, desperately hoping her barrier would be up in time.

It wasn't, but that didn't mean she got hit. A wall of _green _light burst into existence, the enemy fire bouncing harmlessly off.

"Who the… Yuuno!" Nanoha said with genuine relief.

"Hey, Nanoha. Sorry it took so long to get here." Yuuno said apologetically.

She smiled. "Considering the circumstances, I'm going to say you showed up right on time."

_**

* * *

**_

"This is getting out of hand, director. The number of witnesses has increased, three units are out of the fight, and now one of the targets has fled the scene." The man on the screen said. "Sir, at this point, I cannot in good conscience recommend we continue the operation as planned. We must either invest additional combat resources, or withdraw the Black Cat unit before any more are lost. Whatever you choose, I recommend you decide quickly… every lost unit leaves us a bigger mess to clean up."

The man behind the desk nodded. "We've finished securing the Lost Logia retrieved from Takamachi?"

"The command codes we acquired worked perfectly. The logia is in custody, and it's being taken to R&D as we speak… although the transfer was not exactly smooth. It's possible the device might have been damaged somewhat by all the ambient energies."

"Then we'll accept that for now. Make sure to recover all the debris, have the recon unit self-detonate, a clean sweep all around... that ought to make the old men reasonably happy. If they complain, we'll just remind them that if they want completely positive results, they really ought to give us more than twenty minutes to plan an operation."

The man on the screen nodded once. "I'll get right on it, sir."

_

* * *

_

Yuuno floated in the green circle, arms outstretched. Chains of emerald light shot from the runes and held all five of the targets in place. He closed his eyes to focus on the binding. "Oh, my, you're slippery ones, aren't you…"

**Defensive Skill: Magic Cancel.**

"No, I don't think so. At least, not all of you are getting away… Nanoha, could you please target the one on the far left? Your left, not mine." He said, pointing one open palm at the chosen target. As the magic cancel broke his chains on the others, the bind around that particular target only grew brighter. Despite its obvious efforts to escape, it was well and truly caught… at least until an enormous pink beam blasted it to kingdom come, binding and all. It wasn't destroyed, but the fact it was falling like a stone suggested it was pretty well out of the fight. She'd been certain to aim for the center of the torso rather than the 'heart' as Tsukuyomi had done, reasoning the power source would most likely be in the middle, and it seemed to have worked well.

Nanoha prepared to turn her attention to the others… if five of them couldn't pierce Yuuno's defenses with one salvo, she doubted four could, but it was best to be safe… only to have her eyes drawn back to the falling attacker as he vanished. It was the same strange, static pattern as the last one, like no other teleport she'd ever seen. It quickly spread, as well, taking in the other four, mostly intact figures. Before she could even prepare a new attack, the sky was clear.

Yuuno let out a sigh of relief. "Well, that was somewhat difficult. They were rather hard to hold on to." he turned to Nanoha with a sad smile. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. If we'd managed to arrive earlier…"

Nanoha smiled reassuringly. "I'm willing to bet that's not your fault, right?"

Yuuno smiled sheepishly. "Yeah… I just didn't want you to get mad and replace me or anything…"

Nanoha raised one eyebrow. "Replace you…? Why would I?"

Yuuno smiled warmly in return. "I don't know why I even brought it up."

* * *

The golden scythe swung, and hit empty air. "Escaped…" Fate muttered. A quick glance confirmed that the one Arf had been sparring with and the two attacking Susanoo had also vanished, along with the two broken ones that had fallen to the ground below.

"Huh. Guess they retreated." Susanoo said.

"Guess so." Arf agreed.

"Thank you for your help." Fate told him. "Arf, thank him."

"Thanks! You were a big help." Arf said cheerfully.

"Oh. You're welcome." He replied. "I don't suppose you'll just let me retreat in peace…?"

"Sorry, but I have a job to do too." Fate continued, dropping back into a combat stance.

"As for me, I just kind of want to rough you up a little." Arf said, with a wicked grin.

"Yeah, I thought so." He said, responding in kind.

"Excuse me…" A quiet, polite voice said from near the still-open black portal.

Tsukuyomi emerged from the opening and serenely floated towards Fate. Fate tensed herself for combat, but the girl simply stopped and bowed to her. The sheer unexpectedness of the gesture left her briefly taken aback, and she blinked a few times in confusion.

She gently said, "Hello, but I'm afraid it's time to leave. These doors are difficult to hold open for very long, so I really must bring Susa home before he wastes any more time. Thank you for playing with my brother, and I hope to see you again. Have a nice day." She then, without another word, reached out her hand to grab Susanoo by the ear and pull him back with her, ignoring his protests and shouts of pain.

She floated back past Fate, stopping again to briefly bow. She also bowed to Arf this time, saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there before. Have a nice day."

"Ow! Tsuku, ow! Let me go, this isn't funny, I'm not done yet!" Susanoo protested.

"We've been summoned. It is time to go home…" She said calmly.

"I can fly by myself! Ow, stop it! You're gonna rip my ear off, let go!"

Completely ignoring him, Tsukuyomi just continued dragging him by his ear until they'd entered the portal, which closed behind them.

"… what just happened?" Arf asked.

Fate, replied. "We… we probably should have stopped that."

"Um… yeah." Arf agreed.

* * *

Susanoo grinned in an embarrassed manner once Tsukuyomi let go of his ear. "Sorry I'm late, I had to deal with some things before I headed out, and…"

He was cut off when Enlil took two steps forward and slapped him across the face.

"Y-your majesty? What was…"

He was then cut off again when she enfolded him in a hug, her cloak billowing around them. He cast a confused glance at Tsukuyomi… who, he finally noticed, had a fading palm-print on one cheek, and looked rather uncomfortable.

"You knew, didn't you? You knew. It's never been an issue before, but while you're separated from this place by the void…" She whispered. "How much power loss is there? You're restricted to what, one-third? One-quarter?"

He gulped and looked to Tsuku for aid. She just shook her head.

"… one-fifth of maximum ability. Maybe a little bit less… it's hard to be sure."

"AAAAAH! You… you _idiots! _How could you?! How could you let me risk you like that, how could you?!"

He smiled sadly and wrapped his arms around her. _Gods, she's shaking. And she's so tiny… It's just like when she was a kid and she used to hide in my chambers because she had nightmares, poor thing. _It was times like these that reminded him just how much this whole situation had hurt her. She did a good job of hiding it most of the time, but now that she'd been given a scare, the emotional damage was starting to leak through. "Lil, it's okay. It's not your fault, we're the ones who didn't say anything."

"Why didn't you?! You could have been killed! I never would have put you at such risk if I'd…"

"Yes, you would have. It wouldn't have made a bit of difference." Susanoo cut her off. "We're the only real operatives you have right now. You would have had to use us anyway, so we didn't see any reason to worry you. Don't you dare blame yourself, because we all did what we had to do, so it's not your fault."

"But…"

"It's all right." Tsukuyomi broke in with the ghost of a smile. "We don't have a problem with putting our lives at risk. We exist solely to serve the royal family, and you are the only living member. We are instruments of your will, nothing more and nothing less. If you ask it, we would gladly walk into certain death to safeguard your wishes, your majesty."

Enlil rubbed a tear from her eye. "You… you two…"

"Oh, don't tear up yet." Susanoo said dryly. "We might talk pretty, but we just failed you. If you start praising us when we don't deserve it, my pride won't be able to handle it."

"You didn't fail. You can't be expected to perform to your old standards, since you aren't at your old level..."

"A lack of raw power is not an excuse we would accept, even were this a situation which could be excused. There is no way for us to apologize for this disgrace." Tsukuyomi intoned.

"I'll accept the blame this time… I haven't been taking things very seriously. You know how I get…." Susanoo said.

"I am the one who failed to protect the drive unit, first from the Bureau mage, and then from the thieves who stole it from her. The fault for this failure is mine." Tsukuyomi said serenely.

"Nah, it was my fault for leaving you alone. I should have been by your side, but I was off screwing around…"

"You had no choice. We needed to separate to escape that barrier. Had I reacted more quickly to the initial threat, that might not have been necessary, however."

"If I'd put more effort into it, I could have broken myself out too. I never should have…"

Enlil laughed, a high, sincere giggle. "Oh… oh my…" she said, rubbing a tear that was half sadness, half mirth from her eye. "Are you two really fighting over which of you is the bigger failure?"

"No, it's just that it really _was _my…"

"Not as such, no, but I feel I could have done…"

Enlil raised a hand. "If I can't blame myself, you can't either, understood? And that's an order," She said, her composure mostly regained.

Tsukuyomi nodded once. "… understood, majesty. For now, we will declare this loss to be a result of our unit still being only two-thirds complete."

"Oh yeah! I guess we can't really be blamed for taking a loss when our leader isn't in the field with us…" Susanoo said thoughtfully. "Hmmm… well, this is kind of weird. I was looking forward to seeing her after so long, but she's the kind of person where that excitement starts to fade the more you remember what she's really like, you know?"

"We'll need her. We are now restricted to only four Gates. Success is still completely possible, but the fewer we have, the less likely it becomes. We can't risk a failure of this magnitude happening again," Tsukuyomi intoned. "Wake her up."

"Well, I guess we should, at that," He agreed reluctantly, hefting his weapon and walking towards the black gem she floated in.

**"Lightning Unit, please cease. Flame unit's repair cycle is only 98% complete. It will not be completed for the next ten standard hours." **Yggdrasil warned.

"Suuuuuure." He said. Then he drew back his arm and swung his axe as hard as he could.

Instantly, there was an explosion of white light that filled the entire chamber so intensely that even the perpetual gloom of this world was briefly chased away. When it cleared, an attractive twenty-something blue-haired woman, naked except for a red pendant, was standing in the place of the shattered crystal. Her arm was outstretched, her hand wrapped around the shaft where she had caught the weapon, halting the blade within inches of her neck.

Susanoo smiled. "I _knew _it. Forget 'ninety-eight percent', you were just sleeping in again."

Tsukuyomi gave the tiniest of frowns. "How disgraceful… you really do never change, sister…"

The blue haired woman stretched and yawned. "And I was having such a nice dream, too…" Amaterasu said.


	10. Bright New Dawn

**Author's Note: Remember that mood whiplash I warned you about? It kind of hits here. Nothing that would go beyond a PG-13 rating, but Section Black is meant to be _extremely _amoral, and as such the actual truth behind the Black Cat unit is significantly darker than your average _Nanoha_ villain. Well... actually, maybe not, what with the child abusing witches, the world-eating doom book, and the cyborgs running around impaling everybody. But it's still darker than the rest of this particular story has been so far (_So far._ Bwahahahaha!). Just to let you know.**

**Chapter 9: Bright New Dawn**

Amaterasu smiled cheerfully, a warm, childish grin that seemed to make the room brighter. "Wasn't that a bit rough, Susa? Even if did extend my nap a teensy bit, there was no need to smash my regeneration crystal all to pieces."

"Hey, I'm not the one who was sleeping in after she was finished healing. If you'd woken up a few hours ago, like you_ should _have, we could have gone out in full strength and might not have lost the…"

"Oh, I just woke up and Susa is blaming his failures on me? That's not very nice." Amaterasu said. Her smile didn't change, but it still seemed less friendly somehow. "Because Yggdrasil has been kind enough to download the mission reports to me while I slept, and from what I'm understanding, the two of you chose to split up. You know that you fight better as a team, so what exactly were you thinking? And then Susa played around with some silly girl while Tsuku released the Drive unit without even checking the skies for hostiles first. How amateurish... really, having stupid siblings makes my life a lot harder, you know."

"W-well, um… it wasn't quite that…"

Amaterasu continued, "And then, rather than regrouping, you actually decided to forge an alliance with the _enemy_ rather than going to support your own sibling. Tsuku, at least, was limited by a need to stay close to the mage with the Drive unit until she saw a chance to reclaim it. But _you, _Susa… you don't have that excuse, do you_? _No, no you don't." It was truly odd to witness, actually. Neither her smile nor the tone of her voice had noticeably changed, and yet somehow they now seemed to be projecting an aura of malice.

"But I… Ammy, I couldn't just…"

"Hmmm? You couldn't just…? Couldn't just do your duty? Couldn't just defeat a small child in single combat? Couldn't fend off a simple attack without the aid of that same small child? Couldn't put off your need to make every single battle more complicated than it needs to be for even a few weeks?" Amaterasu said. Her smile brought a shark to mind. "Please enlighten me, Susanoo, because it really sounds like there's quite a lot you couldn't do."

"I… I… I…" Susanoo stammered. Finally, he hung his head. "You don't have to tell me that. I've already apologized to her majesty for my actions. This won't happen again, sir."

"Oh, you _apologize._" Amaterasu said.

The room fell silent for several seconds.

"Well, that's fine then!" Amaterasu chirped suddenly. The malice in the air disappeared instantly, as though someone had reached inside her head and just switched her brain to 'happy'. "Don't worry, I forgive you too!"

Susanoo looked _more _scared. "Oh no."

Nobody saw her move. One moment she was completely still… the next she had her brother enfolded in a bear hug.

Unfortunately, she was noticeably taller than him.

Even more unfortunately, she didn't have any clothes on.

"MMMMMMMMFFFFF!" Susanoo said in barely restrained panic. He would have said more, but he was having some problems with oxygen flow.

"Oh, Susa." Amaterasu sighed, a single tear running down her face. She would have looked quite poignant and noble in very nearly any other situation. "You know I can't stay angry at you, especially not when you're wounded like this, poor thing. Come, bask in the healing power of your older sister's pure and wonderful love."

"HHHMMMF! HMFM!" Susanoo said, attempting to fight his way free. He did not succeed, and indeed Amaterasu did not appear to notice. After a few moments of this, his efforts became noticeably weaker and his body began to slump. The back of his neck and his hands, his only visible skin, began to turn the same shade of blue as his hair.

"Pure and wonderful," Amaterasu said again, sighing contentedly.

"Big sister… I don't think he can breathe…" Tsukuyomi said mildly.

"… … … oops." Amaterasu said. She then unceremoniously dropped Susanoo to the floor.

"GAH! Ah, ah, ah…" Susanoo panted, gasping for air. "_You!_ You haven't changed! You haven't changed at _all_!" He said with horror in his eyes. "You're scary when you're angry, and then when you're happy you're _even worse!_"

Amaterasu blinked a few times. "… you want another hug, then?"

"No!"

"Oh, Susa… it's cute that you missed me, but I haven't greeted Tsuku yet. I can't play favorites, you know, a good big sister has to be equally loving to all her siblings. It's a rule."

He raised an accusing pointer finger. "I don't care about… you're still a… you still do things like… I'm your brother, you might recall!"

She smiled brilliantly. "That's why it's important to show my love and affection! Physical contact is very important to a healthy family, you know."

"_Then put some clothes on first!_"

"Eh?" She said, looking down at herself as if only noticing just now that her only article of clothing was a necklace. "Oh, I guess I never got dressed." She said simply. After thinking about it for a few seconds, she smiled again and said, "Well, that's okay. It's no problem to spoil Susa every once in awhile."

His mouth opened and closed several times before any words came out. It wasn't his fault, really. He just had a fairly straight-forward brain, and he reacted best to normal, straight-forward things. Amaterasu was very straight-forward, of course, but she was rarely 'normal'. "_… … … … spoil?!" _He finally managed to choke out.

"Aw, Susa missed his big sister so much that the emotions are overpowering him? It's okay… like I said, his emotional, impulsive nature is one of his cute points." She said cheerfully.

He hurriedly took several steps away from her. "Pervert!" he hissed. "Dirty old man!"

"I'm not a man!" She pouted. "Really, a good brother wouldn't say such mean things."

"And a good sister would be more like Tsuku and _less like you_."

"Ooooh, that's right, Tsuku! I still haven't said hello to my precious baby sister!" Then, without the tiniest warning, she _lunged._

Without the slightest change in expression, Tsukuyomi stepped aside and allowed her older sister to slam face-first into the wall behind her. "Disgraceful. If we're going by childish antics… aren't you even worse than Susa is, older sister?" She inquired calmly.

"Ooooow…" Amaterasu moaned, rubbing her forehead. "No, no, see, my antics are _off _the battlefield. An appropriate setting makes them okay!"

Tsukuyomi's expression remained blank, although her voice was slightly chilly. "And looking back… you never did answer the point that our mission would have been a success if you had not overslept…"

"Ha, ha… so you noticed that?" Amaterasu asked in a slightly embarrassed tone. "I see Tsuku is as observant as ever... and she's just as merciless as I remember, too. But it's okay, because that cold and aloof attitude is definitely one of her cute points. Ah, she's as adorable as she ever was, how nice…" she sighed.

"Oh look. They're all awake. All three of them." Enlil said to nobody in particular, in a long-suffering tone.

"**Shall I have a medical drone prepare you a mild painkiller, your highness?"**

"Yes, that sounds wonderful, thank you." Enlil said, reasoning she'd almost certainly have a headache within the next hour or two.

"Oooooh, so you're the Twilight Queen? Which Enlil are you, again? There were seventeen I can think of."

"House Te Larsea, third to bear the name from that family."

"Oooh, you were one of the good ones!" Amaterasu said joyfully. "It's wonderful to serve you again, and might I add I love your new form? It's just so… oh. OH!" Amaterasu said, eyes widening with joy. "I know! I know! I know the robes are ceremonial, but we simply _have _to get you a cute frilly dress, like Tsukuyomi's! Oh, the two of you together in such cute dresses would just be too lovely for words…" she trailed off, apparently caught up in the happy images.

Enlil shuddered. "You really _haven't_ changed, have you?" She said.

"Not even slightly." Amaterasu readily agreed.

"_Pervert!_" Susanoo accused again, walking over to hide behind Tsukuyomi. "You are nothing but a pervert!"

Amaterasu pouted. "You're being mean again. I'm not _nothing but_ a pervert!"

"So you admit you are one!"

"Well, yes, but I also have other interests is my point." Amaterasu said frankly.

Enlil rubbed her temples. A headache within the next couple _hours_? Who had she been kidding? "Children. As enthralling as this has been, we _do _have some rather pressing business to deal with."

"It couldn't wait?" Amaterasu pouted. "There aren't going to be any missions for awhile, right? I don't mind if it's important, but if it's not a field assignment I don't really feel like working today. I only just woke up, and work doesn't sound very fun, so I was thinking of taking the day off to play with Susa and Tsuku."

"_We have pressing business to deal with_." Enlil said, her tone suggesting that someone would be losing their head in short order if she wasn't listened to.

Amaterasu sighed. "Of course, highness. I stand ready to serve."

"That's good. Now, as my first official order… would you _please _get dressed?"

"Eh? Oh, that's right, I haven't done that yet." Amaterasu said, as if genuinely surprised by this fact. "Oh well, it's all right."

"No. No, it really isn't."

* * *

Yuuno blinked. "Repeat that. Slowly."

"They were with the Bureau." Chrono said again, simply. He was sitting up in his cot in the Medical bay, although the need for that was questionable. The biggest problem had just been magic deprivation, so he mostly only needed to rest anyway… the ship's medic had given him permission to leave so long as he made no further attempts to use magic for at least twenty-four hours, and to be sure to get as much sleep as possible. "It's only a theory, I suppose, but at the moment it's the most compelling one that I have."

"That…." Nanoha said. "But they were actually trying to… that _can't _be…" She stopped, and sighed sadly. "I was about to say it wasn't possible for the Bureau to do something like this. But we know better than that."

"I don't like it either. But like you said, we've all seen that individual Bureau officers can have their own personal agenda, and… well, the TSAB is a fairly nebulous organization. There isn't too much oversight, especially over the higher ranks. It's not that hard for influential officers to discreetly procure funding and resources... a lot of worlds are uninhabited, and clever people can exploit resources found on such worlds without being noticed. Admiral Graham had enough private resources to construct the Durandal and create that entire elaborate scenario with the Book of Darkness… it's not impossible to believe that another officer might have the ability to gain a task force of those creatures, or the funds to purchase them from someone."

"Speaking of… what exactly where those nasty things? They were machines, but alive, but they didn't really _act _alive... I've never seen anything like them." Arf asked.

Chrono fell silent. He stayed that way for several long seconds. "Well... we didn't recover any debris, and a lot of the sensor data you brought back was corrupted, probably by the same jamming field that kept us out of the fight. But from your eyewitness accounts, and the little bits of analysis we managed to recover, we have a pretty solid theory. And before I start, let me say that you're not going to like it." Chrono said. "Speaking frankly, it's rather nightmarish. Amy?"

"Do I have to?" Amy said, shifting nervously in her chair.

"You're the information officer. Inform."

"Fine, but just you remember that it creeps me out." Amy said, "Okay, to start off... you girls know what I mean when I say 'combat cyborg', right?"

"Sure. A person with mechanical enhancements, designed to allow them to fight on a mage's level without using magic." Fate said instantly.

"… yes, that's right!" Nanoha said, not quite as instantly.

"I knew that!" Arf said, even less instantly.

Yuuno smiled.

"Riiiiight. Anyway, what you girls were fighting down there was… well…" Amy said delicately. "Imagine if you took the basic concept of 'combat cyborg' and handed it to someone who had the morals of a poisonous reptile. You'd basically get those things."

"I realize I'm probably going to regret asking this, but…" Nanoha said cautiously, "Could you go into a little more detail?"

Amy turned to Chrono. "Chrono, this is the creepy part."

Chrono sighed. "Fine, fine. Okay, you know a cyborg is created when a person is modified with mechanical implants. This is what happens when you replace too much, and the 'cyborg' in question isn't anything even remotely human anymore. The majority of organic tissue is replaced... or they could even do it in reverse, _starting _with a mechanical combat frame and adding the _organic _components. The resulting creature is basically just a robotic drone, but has just enough organic tissue to maintain a linker core. The general idea is to have the machine use the donor's linker core as a power source, since even a core that couldn't produce a viable mage can still power an effective cyborg if there isn't too much organic tissue to risk burning out."

The room fell very silent.

"And the… 'donors'?" Yuuno asked, although his expression said that he knew the answer and was only asking so that nobody else would have to.

Chrono looked at the floor. "The human mind doesn't respond well to cybernetic implants under most circumstances. Small adjustments are no problem, but when you get to the extremes, things like the skeletal and muscular alterations needed for a combat model, they tend to result in mental disorders, even outright insanity, making the cyborg unstable and useless. To avoid this, the operations need to be performed over a period of years, on artificial humans specifically bred for the purpose... or the brain needs to be one of the organs 'replaced'." He looked up, and his eyes seemed very cold. "They didn't feel pain, correct? Real cyborgs can. If these things couldn't, that's a sign that there's no human mind remaining in them to feel _anything_. They might move around, but they're already dead in every way that matters."

You could have heard a pin drop in the room.

"Th… that…" Nanoha said. Far from her usual demeanor, she looked lost and confused. "How could… _why _would anyone…"

"Because it's faster than the other way." Amy broke in, sounding slightly nauseous. "Like Chrono said, a real combat cyborg takes years to develop. Because only specially prepared bodies can handle the implants, you have to grow your own humans from scratch, and that takes a long time. This process can be used on anyone."

Chrono patted her on the shoulder to bid her to stop, and continued on his own, "With this method you can gather up people that nobody will miss and turn any… random drifter or wanted criminal into a viable anti-mage weapon in a matter of weeks. They're not as impressive as true cyborgs, especially mentally... they're no smarter than any other combat drone. But that can be partially countered by networking them to the same tactical computer and making them work in teams. It's a relatively efficient process." He said with a bitter smile. "It is also ghoulish. Grotesque. Among the most vile of forbidden sciences, knowledge that should never have been discovered."

"I've heard the theory..." Yuuno said. "But I've never heard of someone actually making one, and not just for the ethical issues. There are certainly plenty of criminals who'd be perfectly willing to kill for soldiers like that, but that sort of technology is still incredibly complex and expensive. And you really believe a Bureau officer would have…"

"The jamming field gave them away. They were attacking our systems directly, and there's no way they could have done so without leaving a trace unless they already knew all the security codes. The fact that one of them was able to infiltrate Raising Heart's systems only makes my theory more valid… that device was in Bureau care for several days after the Wolkenritter smashed it. Getting its control codes without being detected would not have been simple, but someone clever could have pulled it off. I don't want to say that internal treachery is the _only_ possibility... but it definitely strikes me as the most likely one."

Fate's expression was coldly analytical. "Admiral Graham's methods left much to be desired, but he was at least attempting to defeat a known threat. This faction seems to be even less discerning in their methods, and I doubt their motivation is as... selfless."

Chrono nodded once. "That seems prudent. Those two mages are artificial beings, and their weapons are more advanced than Bureau standard... and that's not even considering those Logia-gems. Who knows what knowledge could be gained from examining their possessions and bodies? It could be a tremendous benefit to anybody who could pull it off."

"But that's such a broad goal. Wouldn't pretty much anybody be interested in something like that?" Nanoha asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. We know for sure it's a high-ranking officer to have the resources to pull something like this off, but beyond that, the only person I can be 100% sure it _isn't _would be my mother." Chrono said. With a trace of sadness in his voice, he continued, "There are a great many friends I would like to _hope _are not involved, but… well… ever since the Book of Darkness incident, I've learned that what I hope is true doesn't always turn out to _be _true."

"So… how do we handle this?" Fate said, asking the question on all their minds.

Chrono shrugged. "Unfortunately, we didn't manage to recover a single shred of evidence. None of the debris from the destroyed cyborgs, no trace of a data trail in either Raising Heart or the _Asura. _It was a surprisingly clean operation, considering how blunt it was in execution. I can ask Internal Affairs to begin an investigation, but beyond that… until we get some solid evidence, what we've discussed here will be just one possible theory."

Nanoha sighed and closed her eyes. "To think that someone would use such twisted methods over such a tiny goal... how could anyone be so heartless?" Her eyes opened, and that familiar determined spark lit them up. "I'd like to hope we're wrong, I really would. But whoever was truly responsible, the only thing that I can be completely certain of is that nobody this cruel can be trusted with the Logia they've already taken, much less anything else they might be after. We absolutely _have _to stop them!"

Chrono nodded once. "And preferably, we need to do it quickly. Because I can guarantee they'll be trying something like this again..."

* * *

"If you're ready, I have the mission report prepared, sir." said the young woman, stepping into the office. Like the man on the screen had been, she was unremarkable… average height, average build, average appearance. The sort of person who would be forgotten within seconds by any person she met on the street. Which was, of course, the point, given that being forgotten was a major part of Section Black's duties.

"Go right ahead. Start with the status of the Black Cats." The Director said.

"Of the twelve units sent, all but three suffered some minor damage. Two were completely destroyed on-site, but we managed to recover the remains successfully. The one that recovered the Lost Logia from agent Takamachi was damaged beyond our ability to recover and had to be scrapped for parts. Another was heavily damaged, but should be usable with sufficient time for repairs."

"And they didn't successfully eliminate even a single target… so much for 'perfect assassins' eh? Or maybe it's just that the official files don't do Takamachi and Testarossa justice."

"Actually, the real problem seems to be that the two unknowns worked _with _them until Harlaown found a way around the cloak, sir."

"Ah, yes… that assisted mass teleport? That was clever of him. A bit risky, but that's not bad if it pays off. The Bureau needs officers like him. See if we can't get a commendation slipped into his file. And those two enforcers, too… they deserve it. Their deaths would have been even more of a waste than I initially thought." The Director said. "And as for the targets, I'm beginning to think we took the wrong option, here. Again, blame the old men for calling us into the game so late and with so little notice."

"Sir?"

"If they can work with Bureau personnel, we might be able to negotiate for what we want. Let's face facts… this operation has been a disaster so far. With no time to prepare, we reacted with all the subtlety of a hammer and our performance has suffered for it. That Logia was not worth the exposure we've suffered, no matter how valuable it turns out to be. If we can, I'd prefer to get the rest rather more quietly."

"Yes, sir. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go oversee the efforts to reprogram the device we captured. This is the sort of thing we'd normally call in the Doctor for, but he is unavailable and…"

"We rely on him too much as it is, particularly considering he's not really an operative of this organization in the first place. I honestly prefer running this op without him. It reminds him that he isn't indispensable."

"Yes, sir." The girl said. She bowed once and stepped out of the office.

The Director leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. Then, once he had carefully considered his words, he opened a message dictation program and began to speak.

* * *

"Okay, so here are my thoughts on the last two missions and the next step we should take." Amaterasu began, images taken from the previous two battles floating in the air in front of her. She had activated her barrier jacket after several more impassioned pleas to put on some clothing; a bodysuit, boots, gloves, and a jacket, mostly in red but with a gold pattern running along the seams and merging into an angular glyph on the center of her chest. Currently she, Enlil, Precia, and both of her fellow guardians were convened around a conference table to discuss their next moves.

"Okay, let's start with a review of enemy personnel." Amaterasu said. Instantly, the images over the table refocused to close-ups of Nanoha, Fate, Yuuno, and Arf. "For starters, these girls are definitely very cute, and so is that little boy. But the problem is that they're too young. Cute is all well and good, but they just aren't really relationship material until they mature a bit more. If I'm interested in younger people, Susa and Tsuku are much better because they're older than they look."

"Stop. Doing. That!" Susanoo begged.

"But it's all right. Even if they're too young to do anything with, they're still nice to look at, so that's good…"

"You are sick, you know that? _Sick._"

"And _then _I found my diamond in the rough. Just take a look at _her_!" Amaterasu finished with a gesture at an image of Arf. She let out a contented sigh. "Simply gorgeous. That fantastic body. Those piercing eyes. Those _adorable _ears! And look at those clothes… she's a fiery one, no doubt about it, a real wild woman. Oh, I think I'm in love..." Amaterasu gushed. "Well, that was a good meeting. If anyone needs me, I'm going to be taking a quick nap, so…"

"… Amaterasu. Two things." Enlil interrupted.

"Yes, highness?"

"First of all, this was a tactical discussion, not an opportunity for you to ogle the opposition for potential love connections."

"… well, that doesn't sound very fun. Battle planning is a lot of work, and I really did just wake up, so…"

Enlil began to glow, an ominous scarlet aura centered around a small black bracelet on her right hand.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Amaterasu said, holding up her hands in supplication.

"Glad to hear it. Second… is it absolutely necessary for Tsukuyomi to be sitting in your lap during formal war meetings?!"

"It's important to bond with my baby sister." Amaterasu said primly, nuzzling the top of Tsukuyomi's head with her chin.

Tsuku, for her part, looked distinctly underwhelmed. "There's such a thing… as too much affection…" She said.

"Not that I'm aware of." Amaterasu said cheerfully. "But okay, moving on to some actual tactics. Frankly? I don't think we'll have much of a problem with these people. They're more like police than real soldiers, and they're really expecting a specific pattern from us by this point, so I think that with some additional resources and a little pattern-breaking, I can pull off something nice."

"What sort of additional resources do you want? We're rather limited in our capabilities right this moment."

"Oh, not really… the three of us can't go full-force for now, but I think we might have some other options if we kind of cheat a little. If everything works like I plan, the problem will be _time_, not firepower. I'll let you know for sure once Yggdrasil finishes that search I asked it to run."

"As fascinating as all this is, why am I here?" Precia asked harshly.

"Well, two things. First off, those cybernetic organisms weren't in any of the files we stole from that Bureau ship. I was wondering if you had any information about that?"

"Well, it's not any technology I've ever used extensively, but there was a scientist who I worked a few projects with… rumors said he was experimenting with combat cyborg technology on the side, and that he may have even finished a few working models. This isn't him, though."

"You're sure?"

Precia smirked slightly. "Trust me… if this were the man I'm thinking of, those cyborgs would have had a giant golden 'JS' emblazoned on them, and he would have personally opened a communications channel with you in order to gloat or spout some faux-philosophic drivel that he doesn't even actually believe. He's got something of a taste for the dramatic." She said dryly. "Still, I suppose there's no reason he couldn't have sold off some very early prototypes, or even just the blueprints, to fund his research…"

Amaterasu looked crestfallen. "So this could be anyone with enough money, then? Oh, that is so annoying!" She whined, like a child who hadn't gotten the birthday present they wanted. The expression shifted back to a bright smile almost instantly, though. "Oh, well! I suppose that surprises make life more interesting, in the long run!"

Precia fought the urge to roll her eyes. "And the second reason you needed me?"

"Well, you're a mage, right? It's about time you started pulling your own weight, and I'm a tad short on personnel, so you're in."

"Pull my own-?! This entire plan is dependent on _my _research! I've already pulled my own _weight _a thousand times over!"

Amaterasu thought for a second. "Yeah, but what have you done for us lately?"

"How _dare_…"

"You want your kid back, right? That's your big motivation? I like that, I can appreciate that, that's really sweet. Family is a wonderful thing." Amaterasu said happily. "But… we really have no real reason to _do _it, do we? I mean, I suppose her majesty probably gave her word to you or something like that, but… well, who's to say she couldn't break it? I don't see any real benefit for us in keeping it, do you? So it would really be in your best interest to stay on our good side, wouldn't it? Otherwise, your little mother-daughter reunion scheme may be cancelled, and that would just be so sad."

Precia fell silent rather quickly.

"Well? Are you going to help or what? My word, you aren't very cooperative… I guess it's her majesty's fault. She's a diplomat, so she's too, well, _diplomatic _with you. I think it's good for everyone to remind you that if you refuse any little thing we ask, you'll be killed and your child will just stay right where she is." Amaterasu said, that chipper smile never wavering.

Enlil smiled slightly. "Actually, I've been rather blunt in expressing that fact. She just seems to keep forgetting…"

"Huh. Well, maybe you should just dispose of her? I'm sure we could handle it for you..."

"I will… assist you." Precia growled. "I'm not a combat mage by profession, but…"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll do just fine! And might I add I love that dress? You must tell me where you got it." Amaterasu said happily. "Okay then, battle plans. Well, I'd prefer to wait until we find another Gate before we move again, but once we're ready, I have a really fun idea. Before I get started, though, I really ought to ask… how many of those portals can you open in rapid succession, your highness?"

"Well… I haven't exactly been testing my limits, to avoid ripping too many holes in reality. But based on what I've done so far, six or seven, as long as I only have to hold each open for a minute or so. I can manage up to about ten minutes each if it's only one or two portals."

"Oooooh, that's nice, that's wonderful, that's more than I need. Four… no, five should be plenty; three for entry and two for escape." Amaterasu said, clapping her hands together to emphasize how nice and wonderful this was. "Okay, I have just one tiny question more. These portals, milady… how _big_ can they be?"

* * *

The meeting wound down fairly quickly; besides the new obstacles, there wasn't a great deal to discuss. The central mission had not changed, and more evidence was needed before hunting down the strange black cyborgs would even become an option. After discussing some brief matters of tactics and potential future deployment strategies, Chrono chose to dismiss his command crew.

"All right. I think we can back off high alert for the moment, so why don't all of you get some rest? You're going to be needing it," he suggested.

"As long as you make sure to follow your own advice… I'd say you need rest more than we do." Fate said firmly.

Chrono sighed sadly. "I know, but I'm not going to be able to for a few hours yet. I've sent in a preliminary report to headquarters, but they're going to want to talk to me at length regarding our suspicions. I never should have taken this promotion; it's nothing but trouble…" He sighed and lowered himself from his bed to the floor. "Hmmm… my legs are still a little unsteady. Amy, do they have any sort of…" Before he could even finish the sentence, Amy handed him a cane the medical ward kept for patients with injured legs. "… oh. Thank you."

"The doctor said to take it easy, remember. You shouldn't strain yourself even a little bit." Amy said. "That was a pretty risky move you took…"

Chrono did not smile, but his tone of voice suggested he should have been. "Hmmm… then maybe you should have had medical standing by, instead of waiting for me to call for them…"

Amy smacked him upside the head. "I panicked, you little twerp! Besides, what was I supposed to tell them?! 'Hurry up, because Captain Chrono might be about to explode his own head'? Even the best doctor can't fix an exploded head, Chrono!"

"Ow! Amy, quit being insubordinate."

"Then quit picking on me!"

"Awwww. Aren't they so cute together?" Arf said, an utterly wicked smile on her face. "What an adorable couple…"

Chrono turned to her, his eyes as cold as the darkest depths of space. "_How's obedience school coming along?_" He asked.

"… I'll shut up now."

Fate blinked in confusion. "Obedience… school?" She asked.

"Ah. Heh, heh… funny story…" Arf said, blushing furiously. "You see, this pirate sort of asked me to…" she began.

Before she could finish the highly awkward sentence, the comm system beeped to indicate an incoming transmission.

"Oh! Look at that! Something's happening, better answer it, Chrono!" Arf said hurriedly.

"No, I want to hear about…" Fate began.

"_Answer the freakin' message, Chrono!_" Arf said desperately.

"… you aren't getting out of this, you know." Fate said bluntly.

"**_Chrono!" _**Arf practically snarled.

"Fine, fine…" Chrono said. He raised a hand, and a screen flickered into existence at the end of his palm. A rather plain looking man wearing large glasses appeared on it.

"Captain Harlaown? My name is Lieutenant Junior Grade Toya Lexus, with Fleet Operations Command, sir."

"Hmmmm…" Chrono said thoughtfully.

"Is… is something wrong, sir?"

"It's just that I've heard that name somewhere, and I'm not sure where. Are you by any chance famous for something, Lieutenant?"

"Not that I'm aware of, sir." The young man said.

"Well, it will come to me. Please deliver your report, Lieutenant."

"Very well, sir." The plain young man on the screen raised a sheet of paper to his face and read off, "As of 1800 hours today, Midchildan standard time, Captain Chrono Harlaown of the _Asura _is relieved of command of case file #12462."

"… … … … … … … what." Chrono said.

"Fleet Operations have reviewed your report on the case, and they have determined that given your overall lack of command experience and your suspicions that the operation may have been compromised by corrupt officials from within the Bureau itself, that it would be prudent to transfer authority over the case to a more experienced commanding officer. You are to transfer command of the vessel over to their command and act as their second-in-command for the remainder of the case."

"… … … … … … … _what_." Chrono said.

Fate, foreseeing a problem, said, "It… it's not so bad, Chrono."

"Right!" Nanoha agreed, not entirely sure whether she should be smiling or not… should she be showing sympathy, or would that just make him angry? "I mean, it sounds like we're still on the case, they're just transferring in a new commander…"

"_How dare they?!_" Chrono snapped suddenly. "What, exactly, prompted this decision?! Because as far as I can tell, between being sent on the case _late _and the fact that we were just openly _betrayed…"_

"Allegedly betrayed, sir."

"…I'd say I'm doing better than an officer with ten times my experience! So please tell me, Lieutenant, exactly what prompted Fleet Command to stab me in the back like this?!"

"Sir, please understand that I had no say in this decision."

Chrono sighed, taking several deep breaths to calm himself down. "Of course, of course. I apologize, Lieutenant, it's been a very trying day. Would you kindly inform me of whom I should file my formal complaint to?"

Lieutenant Lexus actually showed some genuine emotion for the first time… unfortunately, it appeared to be embarrassment. "Actually, sir, the officer in question arrived on board the _Asura _approximately five minutes ago, so you should perhaps address your complaints to them…"

"_What?! _Regulations state I'm supposed to receive at least twelve hours notice before a change in command! Furthermore, why would they come aboard my ship without telling me, and why would the teleport crews not inform me of an incoming VIP?!" Chrono snapped.

Lieutenant Lexus sighed. "I'm afraid all of the above was a direct order from the Admiral. She ordered us to bend regulations to surprise you, sir."

Chrono's eyes widened as he considered the implications. 'The Admiral'. '_She' _had wanted to surprise him. _No… it couldn't be…_ he thought desperately. Just then, as if to shatter all his hopes, he remembered where he'd heard Lieutenant Lexus's name before.

"Lieutenant, you wouldn't happen to be…" He began.

Lexus sighed again. "She ordered me not to tell you, sir, but yes… I've been her attaché for two months now. Again, I'm sorry, sir."

"No. No, no, no…" Chrono said.

Amy started to laugh. No… everyone in the room seemed to be very carefully looking at anywhere but Chrono's face, and seemed to be making an intense effort to hide their mouths. So they were _all _doing it, it was just that Amy wasn't bothering to hide it.

The door to the medical ward slid open. "Hiiiiiii, Chrono!" Admiral Lindy said cheerfully, a brilliant smile shining on her face.

The vast majority of the population of the room stopped even trying to contain their laughter. Fate, at least, patted him on the shoulder… but she did it with sort of a goofy smile on her face.

"Captain Chrono Harlaown. Child genius. Completed the TSAB Fleet academy's three-year curriculum in _one _year. Completed the one-year officer training course in three months. Became on official Enforcer at the age of twelve, the youngest ranked officer of his generation. Made Captain of the flagship _Asura _at the age of fifteen, also the youngest of his generation." Chrono said in a mechanical tone. "All of that is from my personnel file, you know. It looked very impressive. And now it's going to be joined by 'And on his first official mission as a captain, his mommy had to come save him'."

Lindy patted him on the head affectionately. "Oh, Chrono. I'm sure it won't use the word 'mommy'."

******Author's Note 2: You know, I had _no idea _that Chrono was supposed to be fourteen years old in the first season, and therefore would be fifteen now. I really didn't. I thought he was the same age as Nanoha, Fate, and Yuuno, until I looked it up just to be safe and found out he's actually five years older than they are and just _looks _the same age. That's gotta be annoying for the poor guy, doesn't it? Oh well, he'll make up for it when he's fifty years old and looks thirty.**

**There wasn't really any purpose to this note. Just a weird thought I had.**


	11. Loading the Gun

**Author's Note: So, I finally started reading **_**ViVid**_**, the spin-off manga starring Vivio. I like it okay, I guess… Vivio's not my favorite character in history, but I don't **_**dislike **_**her and the series is lighthearted and cute enough to be refreshing. Although I think I was happier before the writers basically came right out and said 'Nanoha and Fate are officially a couple' (I couldn't care less who Nanoha is romantically involved with, I just liked it better when they refused to tell us. Watching people tear themselves apart over the love lives of fictional characters is like sugar to me). And then there was their decision to make Nanoha a stay-at-home mom… granted, I'm sure it was just a plot device so she doesn't solve all of Vivio's problems for her, but it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. **

**But, because I'm odd, the main thing that caught my eye: Erio and Caro are now both 14. They both look **_**the same as they did at age 10**_**. So it's not just Chrono! **

**Chapter 10: Loading the Gun**

Admiral Lindy sat down in the captain's chair. "Ah, it's like I never left!" She said happily.

"That's because you _didn't_. This is the _Asura'_s first major mission since you were transferred." Chrono said bitterly.

Lindy smiled at her sulking child. "Oh, Chrono, it's not that the top brass don't think you can do the job! It's just that this is turning out to be a larger case than they thought, that's all. They would have sent a senior officer to oversee it no matter who the Captain was."

"As annoyed as I am that they apparently have no confidence in me, that not what's _really _the problem. It's not that they sent someone to oversee the job. It's that they sent _my mother_ to oversee the job. This is the biggest assignment in my first command position, and what happens? Mom to the rescue." Chrono grumbled. "It's not that I'm not happy to see you, it's just… well, this is really, really humiliating."

Amy stepped up behind him and whispered in his ear, "You do realize this means you'll get to participate in the field operation next time, right?"

Chrono's eyes widened. "Well, on the other hand, I suppose it _is _best for a more experienced officer to handle command operations. And of course, with you on the bridge, I'll be able to oversee the away teams. Yes, that sounds good, that's a good way to split up command duties. I respectfully propose we do that, Admiral." Chrono said in a considerably more enthusiastic tone.

"Of course." Lindy said solemnly, although her knowing smile sort of ruined the effect.

"So, mo… admiral…" Fate said.

"Oh, you can call me mom, Fate. I don't like standing on ceremony anyway." Lindy said.

"I probably shouldn't, though… I mean, at least not on duty…"

"Whichever you prefer, sweetie. Me as 'Fate's mom' is still new to both of us, I know."

"Okay then... admiral, while we're on duty. I was wondering if you had any plans. We've mostly been reacting, and I thought maybe fresh eyes might have seen a tactic we missed." Fate asked.

"Hmmm… well regarding the two intruder mages, we're somewhat limited in our options. We don't know where they're based from, unfortunately, so all we can really do is wait for them to make another move. Don't worry, though… I haven't been out of the saddle long enough to forget how to deal with their type. When they make their move, I have a few surprises waiting." Lindy said. "As to the other matter, Internal Affairs has begun an investigation into the matter. I think we should let them get some results before we start planning anything major on that front.

"Now, you girls look exhausted, so why don't you head to the apartment in Japan and get something to eat? You must be tired and hungry after the day you've had. Chrono and I have some red tape to sift through before I can formally assume command, so we'll be an hour or two." Lindy said. "Oh, and Yuuno? The survey team has arrived at those ruins you were interested in, and they're ready to begin excavating. Do you have any further instructions?"

Yuuno looked torn. "Um… well… I'd really like to be the first to examine…"

"I don't mean to tell you how to do your job, but I should probably remind you that a warship is not a terribly secure environment for fragile artifacts from an archaeological dig site." Lindy said mildly.

"… Yes, I suppose you have a point." Yuuno said sadly. "And I guess that I should be leading the crew to examine the new-found Gate as well. Tell them to take anything that isn't too fragile to the Infinity Library for my aides to study, and to leave the rest there until a more professional excavation can be arranged."

"If it makes you feel better, do remember that the Gate you need to study is larger and more advanced than that entire _dig site, _and that judging by your reports you may actually be able to conduct an in-depth analysis of an inactive one."

"… actually, yes, that does make me feel better." Yuuno said in a considerably more cheerful tone. "And at least you're not sending me to jail, like Chrono did."

"Don't blame me for that. Remember, it was actually Arf's fault." Chrono said.

"He asked me to bite him!" Arf protested.

"You were in _jail?_" Fate asked.

Arf winced. "Well… I don't know if that's what _I _would call it…"

"I would." Yuuno said, just the slightest hint of bitterness in his voice.

"Arf… does this have anything to do with that obedience school you were talking about…?" Fate continued, her tone notably more severe.

Arf blinked several times, her brain somewhat overcome by just a tiny-bit of soul-crushing panic. "Um… heh, heh…" she said nervously. "Funny you should ask that…"

**

* * *

**

"Oh, it's lovely!" Amaterasu said joyfully, gazing at the machine she'd asked Yggdrasil to locate. "Perfect, wondrous, exactly what I've always hoped for!" She and her siblings had taken a brief trek outside to investigate the site, and were generally quite happy with what they'd found (except for the fact it meant going outside in the blistering cold, a general lack of illumination, and the need to wrap themselves so thoroughly in defensive spells that they were glowing like fireworks).

"And you're sure it's going to work?" Susanoo asked doubtfully. "I don't think we've ever taken one of these things off-world, even when 'off-world' wasn't in another reality. Even _we _aren't running correctly, so how do we know this thing will run at all?"

"The plan is to supercharge the on-board batteries to the maximum immediately before deployment. With full reserve power, it should function for a minimum of thirty-five minutes. Sufficient for one engagement, I should imagine." Tsukuyomi confirmed.

"See? Tsuku has faith in her big sister's tactical mind. You should be more like her, Susa." Amaterasu chided.

Susanoo nodded reluctantly. "Well, I'll admit the plan in general is sound. Although I will say that using one of these things against individual mages strikes me as a bit unfair."

"This is war. If we are able to do it, then it is not unfair." Tsukuyomi said.

"Point. You have to admit this is overkill, though."

Amaterasu shrugged. "I don't know, it looks like a fairly reasonable amount of 'kill' to me. Why, in the old days, we'd just have a couple hundred warships bombard their home-worlds until they surrendered." She sighed. "I miss the old days."

Susanoo smiled. "Well, I'm having a lot of fun! Without all the super-charged powers and giant armies, we really have to work hard for the first time in a long time. It's been so long since we've been seriously challenged that it's refreshing!" His smile vanished as he looked around the city. "I just wish it were under better circumstances…"

The three fell silent. And without their voices, the entire world fell silent as well. Literally.

It was a sobering view for the three of them. They had lived here their entire lives, and that was a long, long time. As far back as they could remember, their world had been a bustling metropolis, the center of the greatest civilization in known existence. Now, millennia later, that empire was reduced to the three of them and one reincarnated queen, and that metropolis was nothing but ruins. The cities and machines still existed (and, to the repeated confusion of everyone, most of them still worked!), but what had made it _home_, the _people…_

The energies inherent in the Void where they were currently (partially, thanks to Precia and Enlil) trapped required high-level defensive magic to survive for more than a minute or so of exposure. The majority of the population had not had access to such. A few buildings had been shielded well enough to protect a small number of survivors, but… well… two hundred _thousand _years in a hostile dimension with no way out…

"Well, there's no point in getting depressed about it." Amaterasu said forcefully. "Right now, we need to focus on the task at hand."

"Agreed. Ideally, we should wait for a third Gate to be located before we begin the operation, however." Tsukuyomi said. "The potential gains from the operation will be greatly increased."

"I guess you have a point, but that could take days. What are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Susanoo asked.

"We could find someplace private and…" Amaterasu began.

"No."

"You didn't even let me finish! You shouldn't shoot down your sister's fun plans for family bonding experiences without even hearing them!"

"Is it something that we could do in public?" Susanoo asked.

"… Do you mean in the sense 'would it be _possible _in public' or 'would it be _legal_ in public'? Because it's definitely one of them."

"Then I really don't want to."

"Affirmative." Tsukuyomi agreed.

"You two are no fun at all!" Amaterasu whined. "Why do we never do what _I _want to do?!"

"The fact that you know, better than anyone, the things you want to do, and yet still _genuinely don't know the answer to that question_ is probably the thing about you that scares me most of all." Susanoo said sadly.

"_Affirmative._"

* * *

Yuuno looked at the ocean and sighed.

This place had been a battlefield the last time he'd been here, so he hadn't really had time to appreciate just how dead this world was. The ocean was incredibly clear and pure, which _seemed _good until you realized that meant there wasn't anything living in the water. It was depressing.

Luckily, he was able to counter that general depression with a far more _personal _depression when he began imagining just how _much _effort would be required to get all that clear, pure water away from the thing he wanted to look at. "You know, in an ideal world, I would have a full team of trained assistants, several submersible vehicles, and a fortune in specialized equipment. Instead, I have six guards and you." The six guards were, for their part, establishing a perimeter and doing their best to stay out of the his way. Arf, however, was not.

"Yeah, but I'm worth more than all that stuff put together!" Arf said cheerfully.

"Why are you even here?"

"Eh? Why? That's mean, Yuuno!" Arf pouted. "We're friends! Buddies! Partners in crime! … Literally! Why wouldn't I be here, helping out my good pal Yuuno?"

Yuuno smiled. "Afraid to go home with Fate, huh?"

"… she looked angry. I really think she would have made me sleep outside. I don't like sleeping outside, Yuuno. It's cold." Arf admitted.

"Thought so."

"Although we really _are _friends, you know. I wasn't lying about that."

"I know, Arf."

"I just didn't want you to think we weren't."

"I didn't think that."

"Well, good, because it's not true. You and me, we're _pals, _that's what we are. Tight. Friends for…"

"I'm actually trying to concentrate, Arf."

"Oooh, on what?"

"Getting at a big piece of metal that is buried both underground _and_ under the ocean, at the moment. A barrier magic might be able to hold back the water enough for me to get close, but it will take a great deal of raw power to hold back it all _and _a great deal of finesse to set it up without accidentally turning on the Gate. Traditionally, the two don't often occur together. And after that, if I can't get some reliable scans through the soil, I'll have to find some way to get down through the sea floor, too. Teleporting is too dangerous, we don't exactly have the equipment to dig down, and I don't know about you, but I'm not looking forward to another hour-long spelunking trip through a bunch of very annoying caverns. The ones in Japan already made me nervous... basic rule of thumb, never go underground if you can find what you're looking for without doing so. That applies even more on an island, and even _more _when you're _under _the water instead of _over _it."

"I thought you dug stuff up all the time."

"Spelunking is an occupational hazard. Doesn't mean I should do it more than I _have _to."

"Guess that makes sense. Anything I can do to help?" Arf said frankly.

"I'll let you know in a second." He said, closing his eyes. Raising his voice, he shouted. "Everyone, if you could please not cast any active magic for a little bit? What's already running shouldn't be a problem if I compensate, but anything new might disrupt me."

He took a deep breath, and clasped his hands in front of his chest. A green circle burst into existence around his feet, and from it a beam of light burst downward into the water.

The barrier was even harsher than he'd planned. It had to be strong enough to hold a _lot _of water, but also large enough that the pocket it created could actually be moved around in. Further, if he didn't want to suffocate, it would have to be open to the air… and not a _small _opening, since it was so deep down. Unless he basically parted the sea, he'd be getting a scenario where he quickly began breathing his own exhalations. Carbon dioxide poisoning was never fun.

He also quickly discovered that trying to do so alone had been _deeply _stupid.

"Arf… help…" he said, beads of sweat beginning to run down his brow. Instantly, the pressure began to lessen on his mind as golden light joined the already existing emerald wall in pushing the water back. It took them awhile, even together, but eventually they did manage to create a cylindrical opening about five-hundred meters wide, spreading down to the ocean floor.

Arf smirked at the flashing runes holding back the sea. "You should've told me you were going to try something dumb like that! I would've helped you right from the start. No sense pulling a Chrono, here."

Yuuno laughed in spite of himself. "'Pulling a Chrono'?"

"That's my new word for trying to do something way too hard by yourself and then collapsing from exhaustion."

"I like it." Yuuno said. "Okay, now that we've done the easy part…"

"That was the easy part?"

"… now that we've done the _hard _part, time to move on to the _really _hard part." Yuuno corrected himself.

"Oh, good. You had me worried there for a second." Arf said cheerfully. The two of them began to descend their newly formed tunnel to the ocean floor. It smelled like salt and… not a lot else, actually.

"Plants. Fish. SOMETHING. There should be SOMETHING down here besides saltwater and dirt." Yuuno said. "What a sad world…"

"It could be worse." Arf said. "Once, this desert world we went to trying to catch Signum and Zafira? Giant Armored Tentacle Snakes. I'd rather find nothing than go down there and find Giant Armored Tentacle Snakes."

"… Right, I suppose that would be worse." Yuuno agreed.

"No kidding! We'd get down here and _boom_, tentacles _everywhere_. And I never fought one myself, but I heard they were really grabby, so…"

"_I get the picture._" Yuuno said firmly. "Okay, now for the harder part. I'm going to need you to focus on the barrier and make _sure _it doesn't so much as flicker, okay? I'm going to set up a search spell, try to determine exactly how far down the Gate is. This could be bad… it could be, after all, as far down as…"

Arf punched the sea floor. Her arm sunk up to the elbow into the wet sand with a rather sickening squishing sound… followed by a 'clang'.

She shrugged. "I smelled metal."

"… as I was saying, it might be as far as six inches beneath the surface." Yuuno said dryly.

* * *

Although Admiral Lindy had claimed she would be home in an hour or two, it was closer to three before she and Chrono actually arrived. Nanoha and Fate had long ago finished eating, and were beginning to seriously consider just having Nanoha spend the night.

"Girls," Lindy said warmly, taking off her jacket and stretching out. "Aaaaah, I'm out of practice. Not even six months on the ground, and just being back on ship for three hours wears me out. Well, I'll get my space legs back eventually, I'm sure…"

She then walked over to Nanoha and Fate, pointed at their devices, and made a motion pantomiming slipping something off her neck.

Slightly confused, both girls took the hint and took off their devices.

Chrono, holding Durandal between his fingers, calmly walked to one of the back bedrooms, opened the door, and shoved the silver card beneath a mattress. He made a motion suggesting Nanoha and Fate follow his example.

Even more confused, both girls did so, slipping Raising Heart and Bardiche under the futon. Chrono then led them out of the room and closed the door behind them. Lindy motioned that the three youths should follow her, and calmly led them out the door. They walked for about fifteen minutes before arriving at a small local park, deserted due to the late hour.

"Um… mom?" Fate said tentatively, seemingly not sure if she should be breaking the long-running silence or not.

"Oh, don't worry, it should be fine to talk now." Lindy said cheerfully. "I just worried that we couldn't trust your devices. You saw how easily Raising Heart's security was breached, and I'd prefer not to spout any sensitive information in front of it or any of the others until we've examined them more closely."

Fate nodded. "Yes… we got the feeling there was something you wanted to speak to us about, that's why Nanoha stayed so long…"

"Clever girls. Yes, there is something rather important that we need to discuss." Lindy said, her smile vanishing and her tone growing considerably more somber. "Now, you all remember Chrono's theory, correct?"

"That a renegade officer has taken an interest in our targets?"

"This… this is both true and false." Lindy said hesitantly. "The problem is that the version he told you, and the one he gave to internal affairs… well, there are a few details that just don't mesh. Chrono, I imagine that you've actually considered the more likely possibility, but you simply didn't want to give voice to it, correct?"

Chrono nodded once. "I didn't think it was safe to bring it up, not after it was shown how penetrable _Asura _really was. Any system on the ship could be a spy, and this really isn't the sort of theory you share with anyone you don't trust implicitly."

"Wait, how do you mean? Fate and I only got a basic overview of what happened to _Asura. _There was a special type of jamming that worked because they had the security access codes, but beyond that we're both still sort of in the dark." Nanoha said.

"In a sense, that's true, but I'm afraid it's rather more disturbing than it sounds. You see, traditional 'jamming' _prevents _something from occurring. The _Asura _wasn't being prevented from doing anything... the fact that Chrono was able to manage a personal teleport means that there wasn't a jamming field in place, at least not as we understand them. This implies a focused attack on the _Asura's _central computer, a forcible outside reprogramming… except _that_ would have activated the security programs. Even if they couldn't stop the intrusion, they are, after all, magic. They should have at least _tried._" Lindy said patiently. "Which brings us to the command code problem… someone _could_, if they knew all the security clearance codes, access the _Asura'_s main computer and issue it orders without tripping any alarms, since the defenses would assume they had every right to do so. This could _technically _work, and that's why Chrono reported this as the problem… but it could _not _work the way it did."

"… eh?" Nanoha said eloquently.

Lindy smiled at her apparent confusion. "Okay, let me put it this way. Let's say, hypothetically speaking that I used my codes to access the _Asura'_s computers and ordered them to, oh reprogram the mess hall food synthesizers to only produce pudding."

"'Hypothetically'? Mother, you've actually done that." Chrono said.

"Hush, Chrono. Let's _hypothetically _say that I had done this." Lindy chided. "The _Asura _would make the pudding, just as I commanded."

"… It took us _three weeks _to get any food other than pudding in the mess, you know." Chrono said.

"Hush, Chrono."

"Severe malnutrition was rampant, I think someone may have eaten his own boots..."

"_Moving on_!" Lindy said firmly. "My _point _is, that the _Asura _would obey my orders, and if someone tried to countermand them, it would say something along the lines of 'that action has been prohibited by Admiral Lindy Harlaown', and then would only allow it to be removed if someone who outranks _me _gave a command. You see the problem?"

Nanoha nodded once. "If what we thought was true, then the computers should have told us_ which _officer had used their command codes to stop the _Asura _from helping. So after all that, our theory is actually…"

"Possible. Even likely." Lindy said grimly. "But it would only work if there was another program in the system… a sort of back-door granting exemption to the normal rules to certain individuals, allowing them to issue their own orders to the_ Asura's _main computer, including orders to deceive its own crew."

Nanoha's blinked. "But that doesn't make sense. How would they know ahead of time which specific ship they would need to... I just had a really bad thought." Nanoha said, answering her own question before she even finished asking it.

Chrono nodded. "They wouldn't need to know, _if _they had these 'back doors' installed in most of the ships in the fleet, if not all of them. Like I said, it's not impossible for Bureau officers to acquire a great deal of personal resources, but there are limits. No ordinary officer could possibly acquire the kind of power and influence that would be required to pull off something on that scale without _anyone _being the wiser." Chrono finished for her.

Lindy nodded. "There are maybe a dozen individuals who could have successfully implemented a plan like this, and all of them are at _least _a department head. Someone at the very highest echelons of power has taken it upon themselves to ensure our mission does _not _succeed. That's why the secrecy… frankly, we're dealing with people who are more or less immune to prosecution. If they believe that we suspect them of wrongdoing, and we don't have concrete evidence of such? Considering their already-displayed lack of anything resembling ethics, I'd say the odds of us experiencing an 'unfortunate accident' would be _considerable._"

She allowed a few moments of silence for her audience to digest this information.

"It's not _quite _as awful as it sounds." Fate ventured.

Lindy and Chrono blinked. That was not the reaction they'd really been expecting.

Blushing slightly at the sudden attention, Fate continued, "Well it's just… whoever it is obviously wishes to remain hidden. They can't directly say 'halt your mission and come home', because it would be too suspicious to just order us to stop pursuing dangerous criminals. And the _Asura _is the flagship. It would look just as suspicious to take us off the case and replace us with someone who's not as good just when things get _more _serious. So they can't stop us by official means. And unofficially, that just means we need to be careful. They seem unwilling to attack _us _directly for now, so they'll probably try to do what they did before… cut off our support, divert outside attention, and send a team to take the fugitives out from under us. So all we need to really do is… well… _win_."

Nanoha smiled. "And as luck would have it, we're pretty good at that. This is obviously not _good _news, but it doesn't really change anything. Whoever is behind this has to be stopped, and if we're the only ones in a position to do it, then... we'll do what we do best!"

Silence fell again, but only for a few seconds; as far as stunned silences go, this one was broken in record time by a series of helpless giggles. "Oh… my… hee, hee… I… I thought I didn't miss the fieldwork, but I… hahahaha! Oh, I _have _missed working with you girls! 'We think the most politically powerful people in the universe are out to kill us!' 'Oh, that's okay Admiral Lindy, we'll just beat them up!' HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Lindy said, tears of mirth running down her face.

Nanoha pouted. "Well, when you put it like _that _it makes us sound kind of simple, doesn't it…"

Chrono held one hand up to his voice and made a sound like he was clearing his throat, but there was a definite hint of a strangled chuckle in the noise. "Y-yes. In any event. We should head back to the place. House. Shouldn't spend too much time away from the things. Devices. Looks suspicious." Chrono said, fighting with iron willpower to keep from laughing. He found it worked best if he stuck to short, simple sentences.

* * *

The next day passed largely without incident.

The news was almost charmingly blasé about the fact that Tokyo had randomly started glowing not even a week ago. School was largely unforgiving of two girls leaving in the middle of the day for no adequately explained reason, but the fact that their academic records were superb (Nanoha chose not to notice the fact that her record was apparently better than it had been two days ago, and resolved to never, ever notice this fact… although she decided, for totally unrelated reasons, to get Chrono a very nice birthday present this year) allowed them to get away with just a warning.

Yuuno responded to any and all communications by mumbling something about academic awards and seemingly not noticing that someone was trying to talk to him; Nanoha chose to interpret this as meaning that he was quite excited by the Gate.

Chrono and Admiral Lindy spent their time going back and forth between the house in Japan and the _Asura_. As with Yuuno, they seemed to be actively avoiding conversation, although in this case this was because they were hesitant to say what they were actually thinking on certain subjects. In the case of Susanoo and Tsukuyomi, Lindy would just wink and say that she had some fun surprises in store… not that they would need it, considering that with the addition of Chrono to the field team, they now outnumbered their foes by more than two to one, assuming that they could actually manage to get all five mages _on the field _and not in jail. At this point, Chrono pointed out that it was Arf's fault.

Arf had discovered that yes, Fate really _had _been unhappy with her. She discovered it overnight, when she had to sleep in the doghouse in Fate's yard.

It was, overall, a very nice breather.

And so was the next day.

And the next.

And the _next._

"It's not that I don't enjoy some time off," Nanoha said, idly brushing a kitten off the table. She had, since she literally had nothing better to do, gotten together with the girls at Suzuka's house for tea. "It's that I start to worry when there are two entirely separate groups of people trying to kill us, and neither of them do anything for four straight days."

Suzuka nodded thoughtfully, picking a kitten off the table and setting it down on the floor. "I suppose I can understand that. In the movies and such they always say that the calm before a battle is the hardest part, don't they?"

Arisa shrugged and shooed a kitten off the table. "I never understood that myself. I mean, you'd think the _battle _would be the hard part, and the calm before it would be rather calming."

"You'd think that, but you mostly find that with all the adrenaline, once the battle actually _starts _you really aren't thinking much about anything… Suzuka, is it me, or are your cats more active than usual?" Fate said, gently pushing a kitten toward the edge of the table until it volunteered to jump off of its own will.

"Falin accidentally left a tray of cookies where they could get at it. Unfortunately, they were the ones with the cream cheese, so the cats actually _ate _them, and now the little dears go berserk whenever we have _any _cookies." Suzuka said in a mildly embarrassed tone, gently removing yet another kitten that had jumped onto the table the four girls were sitting at in an effort to reach their snack. "It was cute at first, but you'd be surprised how quickly it gets old…"

Arisa picked up a cat by the scruff of its neck and stared it frankly in the eyes. "No, I wouldn't find that surprising at all." She said.

"Mew." The cat said.

"Yeah, you _better _apologize."

"Um… before we got sidetracked…" Nanoha said timidly.

"Oh, yes. Nanoha, you know as well as I do that these things happen when they happen." Fate said, largely unconcerned. "I'm sure that we'll see them again."

"Well, I don't want to see _all _of them again," She said, remembering the creepy black cyborgs. "But I'm a little worried about Tsukuyomi."

"_Worried?_" Arisa asked in disbelief.

"Well, I think… it was like I actually managed to reach her, a little, _little _bit. Even if it was the tiniest connection imaginable, I felt like I actually saw that she's a person, not a machine. And then when her gem was stolen she just looked… she looked so _lost. _It was the first time I've ever seen her look _anything, _so it stuck with me. It gave me some hope that I'm not trying something impossible, that's all. If I could talk to her again, maybe…"

"You really are too nice for your own good, you know that?" Arisa said cheerfully.

"Hey!"

"True." Suzuka agreed.

"Guilty." Fate said.

"Well, of course I'm _nice _but I don't think it's too…" Nanoha began, before stopping to notice that all three girls were fighting back giggles. "… why is it, lately, that I can never tell when you're being serious and when you're just teasing me?" Nanoha pouted.

"Well, we've been doing a little of both..." Suzuka admitted.

"Arisa, I expect this sort of thing from you. But Suzuka, Fate…"

"I'm a bad influence on them." Arisa said proudly.

Nanoha sighed indignantly. "The things I put up with…"

Fate patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it. We'll see them again. They don't seem the type to leave a job unfinished… unfortunately."

"I know. I just can't help worrying a little bit…"

"Look on the bright side." Suzuka said. "Maybe they decided it wasn't worth the risk? They might have gone off to just live peacefully by themselves. Maybe you _already _reached them more than you thought."

Nanoha smiled at that. She didn't really _believe _it, but it was a nice thought. And she could always hope, right?

* * *

Elsewhere, at that exact _second_, as if to say once again that the powers-that-be _love _toying with optimists, a black portal opened in the cold sky of the planet Dysval.

It was not a nice world, frankly. While it was certainly capable of supporting life, the life it supported tended to be of the type that could live on one meal a month and which considered temperatures that could freeze a human to death in less than an hour to be 'mildly nippy'. Independent colonists had attempted to set up shop there more than once over the years, because no matter how awful a place is there will always be _someone _willing to try living there if it means they won't have to pay taxes. All such attempts had inevitably failed when they discovered that there was a _reason_ the colony before them had failed. Like the fact that most edible crops would not grow in these temperatures. Or that most of the water on the planet was underground, frozen, or both. Or that the native vegetation required about a week's worth of intense processing to actually be soft enough for humans to eat. Or that the native predators tended to be on the nightmarish side and considered soft, squishy colonists to be a pleasant alternative to the sort of tough-as-nails herbivores they usually had to hunt.

It wasn't that people _couldn't _live there. It was just that it wasn't worth it.

But now, after years and years of being mostly ignored by everyone except those few stupid enough to try and live there, someone had finally found a use for the cold, sad little planet of Dysval.

"Well then," Enlil said, standing on the other side of the black portal and looking over the frozen plains. "Let's begin."


	12. Ignite Inferno

**Chapter 11: Ignite Inferno**

_This is just not possible. _Yuuno thought dully.

Granted, since he'd gotten maybe two hours of sleep last night, most of his thoughts were sort of dull. But this was duller than most.

He couldn't help it. It had taken him most of the first day of study to get the Gate's computers active without turning on any of its other systems... to his great joy, as this meant he could skip quite a lot of excavation. The first few hours of the second day had been spent downloading modern language files into it so that he could actually communicate with the thing.

After that, things had sort of snowballed. He'd spent the rest of that day and most of the next two holed up in his cabin on the _Asura, _his terminal constantly linked to the Gate and downloading every last scrap of data he could wring out of it.

The AI refused to allow him access to classified files, but without any countermanding orders and with no active administrators, it was happy to tell him all about anything non-classified that it knew. Yuuno got the impression that it was lonely after so long inactive, and conveniently, he was quite happy to listen to it.

It wasn't designed as a data depository, of course, but it knew more than he'd expected it to. He'd already gotten a detailed schematic of the device itself which could, he believed, make current teleportation techniques roughly twenty percent more energy-efficient. It had thoughtfully provided him with a list of current (which was to say, current when it had last been active) figures of public importance, beginning with some major political figures… not exactly useful for their current situation_,_ given that every single person on the list had been dead since before Midchilda had discovered fire, but there was nothing wrong with learning something new. It had provided him with the basic alphabet of the most commonly used language of its time, and given him some tips on converting it into something he could read.

Then he'd started asking about who'd built it, and things had _really _gotten interesting.

The civilization which had built and maintained the Gates had referred to itself as 'the Infinite Empire'. Yuuno presumed that the name was meant to be symbolic (possibly symbolic of 'incredible arrogance') but that was not something the Gate actually knew. Then, since he'd never heard of them, he'd asked if the Gate happened to have a map or list of worlds that had made up said Empire.

It had both. And they showed pretty effectively that the absurd name had not been as arrogant as Yuuno thought.

He had begun reading the list an hour ago… and he wasn't even half done yet.

_This is just not possible. _Yuuno thought.

He didn't recognize almost all of the names on the list… not exactly odd, considering that most of the worlds involved probably no longer had the same names. But there were so _many _names, and many more that were just numbers; maybe they were planets not fit for habitation, or perhaps after the first couple hundred worlds, it was easier not to think up new names. But there was _one_ name in particular, about a third of the way down the list, that both made a great deal of sense and that everything he knew about history told him could not _possibly_ be right…

The alert klaxon began to screech, shocking him violently out of his thoughts. Amy's voice came over the intercom, saying, "Director Scrya, please report to the bridge."

He took a deep breath to steady his heartbeat and got out of his chair, ignoring the stiffness in his neck and legs. He didn't really want to _leave_, he still had so many questions he needed to ask, he needed to find out if this was genuine and if it _was_… but he recognized that until he knew a little bit more, it was really just his curiosity getting the better of him. It could wait.

Besides, he was beginning to think that Tsukuyomi and Susanoo could answer these particular questions better than the Gate's limited intellect. Not that he was obsessed or anything...

* * *

Amaterasu nodded. "All right, time to play. Susa, Tsuku, you're up first. We'll have you under surveillance as best we can, but you know how these things are... just don't lose your devices or we'll never find you."

"No, really?" Susanoo said. "Because I was planning on throwing away my weapon that I've had for centuries and which I know so well it's basically an extension of my arm. I was really hoping to just _lose _that."

**"You're stupid enough to do it, your highness.**" Raijin informed him.

He smiled, held the pendant between his hands, and began to bend it. "Break, break, break the stupid piece of junk~!" He said in a sing-song voice.

**"Sorry, sorry!"**

"I'm sure in better times, I'd be chuckling at the irony of the fact that you can't get your weapon to behave any more than I can get _you _to do so, but this isn't the time." Enlil sighed. She motioned at the portal, continuing, "I have to make quite a few more of these, so don't make me hold this one any longer than I have to."

"Right, sorry. Okay, let's ULLLFM!" He said, caught somewhat off-guard as two arms wrapped around him like steel cables.

"Be careful! You're going to be outnumbered, so watch each other's backs, and don't eat anything strange, and don't talk to strangers, and…" Amaterasu said in a tone of frantic concern.

"UMMMMFMLFM!"

"Yes, I love you too."

"You know, I actually wasn't joking when I said _hurry up._" Enlil said meaningfully.

"Oh, that's right. Sorry." Amaterasu said, releasing her victim. He quickly scrambled to his feet and practically _leapt _through the portal, which closed behind him. Tsukuyomi, being the _smart _sibling, had already left while he 'provided a distraction'.

Precia fought down a growl of annoyance and vaguely wondered how she'd ever gotten associated with these idiots.

Had she realized Enlil was having _exactly_ the same thought, both of them would likely have swallowed poison right then and there.

* * *

"We've confirmed the location, Admiral." Amy said. "Hey, this one actually has a name! Dysval, at dimensional coordinates 3351093221. Hmmm… looks like it's mostly uninhabited, but there is a small mining organization on the largest continent, near the equator. All automated, though; seems that people who are actually _alive _tend not to stay on this world very long. May have something to do with the lousy weather… Barrier Jackets should be plenty of protection from that, though."

"Our enforcers?"

"They're gathered in transport bay two and ready to move out on your orders." Amy said cheerfully. She was very happy with how quickly and efficiently she'd gathered them, although she supposed it helped that Yuuno and Chrono had actually been _on the ship, _Arf had been lounging around a house that had its own teleporters built in, and the remaining two had just been eating cookies. It was easier to gather them when they weren't doing anything. Just for fun, she added, "And not one of them is in jail. Not even Yuuno."

"_That was Arf's fault_!" Yuuno protested over the intercom.

"_He asked me to-_"

"Did you do that on purpose, Amy?" Lindy asked.

"… sorry."

"Just as long as you know you have something to apologize for. Chrono, is your team ready?"

"_All green, Admiral. Any special orders_?" Chrono said.

"Hmmmm… use your own discretion. I trust your judgment. Just take them both, alive, and _quickly_. I'd prefer we not have any other… guests."

"_Of course. This is five against two… it should be over quickly_."

"I wasn't giving you permission to be overconfident, Chrono." Lindy chided him gently. "Be _careful_."

Chrono's slight grin was distinctly audible in his tone, even though the connection was sound-only. "_I always am. My team, on the other hand_…"

Lindy winced. "Maybe I should have said, 'be as careful as you are capable of being with those people under your wing'…"

Nanoha could be heard to say, "_I think they're making fun of us_."

Lindy smiled. "I've said it before, but I _have _missed those kids."

* * *

Tsukuyomi opened her eyes. "We have incoming. The earliest distortions of a group teleport have begun. They should fully materialize within the next thirty seconds."

Susanoo smiled, his breath clouding in the low temperatures. He didn't mind them overall, though he would have preferred a little more snow. Cold and dry was just dull. "That was quick. Switch to silent communications."

_I am detecting five signatures. Four that I recognize… Nanoha Takamachi, Fate Testarossa and her familiar, and the boy who arrived near the end of the last encounter. The fifth is an unknown._

_So they're not bothering with the containment team… well, I guess you can't say they aren't learning. All right, I call Fate, and I'm guessing that Arf will go with her, so that's two… hmmm, I guess I'll pick up the unknown as well. You know, just to keep things interesting. You think you can take care of the guy who showed up late last time and… ummmmm… it's right on the tip of my tongue…_

_Nanoha Takamachi?_

_No, that doesn't sound right. It was something similar to that, though. _Susanoo thought confidently.

_No, it __**is **__that._

_… Are you sure?_

_

* * *

_

By this point, of course, the thirty seconds had passed, and the Enforcers quickly found their quarry… by virtue of it floating visibly in the empty sky.

Chrono frowned at the two dots on the horizon. "They're in visual range, so they have to know we're here. Stay sharp. Nanoha, you have the best range; think you can hit them from here?"

"Well, I _could, _but I'd really prefer…"

"Is there no way we could talk to them first?" Yuuno interjected.

"… did my voice just change?" Nanoha asked in confusion, wondering why someone other than herself had just said roughly the words she'd been thinking.

"There are some things I really, really want to ask them. And frankly, I'm not great at interrogating prisoners, so I'd just like to see if they'll…"

"Is this important?" Chrono asked.

"… I don't know." Yuuno admitted. "It could be, but I can't be certain."

"Then I don't think we can risk it. We have the advantage here, but that doesn't mean we can be sloppy. We're still in a combat situation, and…"

"No we're not." Arf said.

"… eh?"

"They're running away." Arf said, pointing at the two already small dots in the sky getting even smaller.

Chrono fell silent for a brief moment. "… oh."

"They must have found the next Gate already and decided to just try to beat us there…" Yuuno guessed.

"Well, we should catch them, then." Chrono said. His tone suggested that he knew such an order didn't really need to be _said, _but he felt that he should contribute something.

Fate tried not to smile. "A wise decision, sir."

"… Agent, I should remind you that as your commanding officer, I do not appreciate your thinly veiled mirth at my confusion and demand to be treated with proper respect. And as your older brother, _stop that_ or I'm telling mom." Chrono said dryly. "Pursue, people."

_

* * *

_

_Why are we running away?! _Susanoo asked.

_We have two objectives. This aids both of them. Therefore, it is the most sensible course of action. _Tsukuyomi said.

_Well… yeah, but do we need to aid our objectives such a sissy way? They're going to make fun of us!_

_… … … so?_

_So, it doesn't do to have our enemies disrespecting us! Fate's not going to take me seriously anymore! I mean, I'm her Master, I have to set a good example for her or she'll never grow into a great mage! _(At this point, in what was probably a coincidence, Fate felt a surge of intense irritation and had no idea why).

_You can redeem yourself when they catch us. They should have us in firing range in the next minute or so. Surprisingly fast, although I suppose we weren't going as quickly as we could have thanks to you…_

_Well, okay then, though maybe I should fight all of them by myself, just to make... __**what do you mean thanks to me?! **_Susanoo mentally bellowed.

_I just thought that you were going slower than you could have. _

_I was not! I was going really fast, they were just faster, right? Right?! So don't accuse me of slacking off._

_Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you weren't trying, but you're really just not as good as they are… _Tsukuyomi apologized mildly.

_Yeah! I'm just not… as… hey, __**that's even worse! **__I'm fast, I'm __**really **__fast! Like the wind!_

_Oh. Then why didn't you move more quickly?_

_… … … … …I was moving slowly on purpose. You know, to be sporting._

_That would be slacking off._

_… … … GAAAAAAH!_

_…?_

_

* * *

_

"Nanoha?" Chrono asked.

"Raising Heart?" Nanoha asked.

"**Range in 30, 29, 28…"**

"A few more seconds until sniping distance, Chrono." Nanoha said. "I don't think I can shoot them both down, but I should be able to get one, or at least get them to stop running."

"Good enough. When Nanoha fires, Fate and Arf break right, Yuuno and I break left. We'll flank and surround them when they separate. Nanoha, if you can bring one down, fine; if not, just continue to attack at range until things get too hectic."

"Um… I realize this probably sounds weird, but would you mind if I…" Fate began.

"No." Chrono said. "You may not."

"But…"

"You were going to ask if you and Nanoha could fight one-on-one against the people you've been fighting so far. And that answer is 'no'. I let you do that with the Wolkenritter, because at the time we also needed to search for the Book of Darkness and I didn't mind you distracting them while we did so." Chrono said firmly. "This time one of the Logia doesn't move, and they are _carrying _the other one. So we use all available resources, understood?"

Fate sighed. "Fine…"

Nanoha smiled in her general direction. "Don't worry, Fate. I'm disappointed too, but I'm sure that once things get started, we'll still have the chance to talk to them again. These things tend to work out in their own ways. Okay, Raising Heart, lock on target. Set up for Divine Buster, Maximum Power, full extension…"

Fate blinked at the rather abrupt shift in tone. In spite of herself, she couldn't help but think: _Well, that's pretty close to what I heard right before __**my **__problems started to work themselves out…_

Arisa couldn't hear that thought, but she would have been proud if she could.

* * *

_I believe they have managed to acquire a target lock. _Tsukuyomi thought. _We've bought as much time as we can with retreat. Prepare for combat._

_When am I __**not **__prepared? _Susanoo thought cheerfully. He looked over his shoulder to see the rapidly growing ball of pink light in the sky behind them, and the figures of several mages flying away from it. _Oh, they're trying to separate us, then take us two to one? _

'_Divide and conquer' is a classic strategy for a good reason. _Tsukuyomi pointed out. _Of course, if the 'divide' portion is unsuccessful, the plan falls to pieces._

_I take it you have a counter-plan?_

_Well, for starters, we should defuse that spell. Tell me, big brother… when was the last time someone outclassed you in terms of raw attack power? _

Susanoo smiled at that. "Raijin, reconfigure for long-range combat."

**"Artillery Form, set up!" **Raijin said cheerfully. The blades retracted, a new grip emerged, and what had once been the handle of a very large axe opened to become the barrel of a very large gun. **"Positron Laser, locked on target!" **

As blue light began to gather at the barrel of the cannon, Susanoo kept right on smiling. "This should be interesting."

* * *

_This… could end badly. _Nanoha thought. She'd thought Chrono's plan had been a solid one, and definitely hadn't been planning on them actually standing their ground and meeting her head-on. After a moment's thought, she realized that she'd been thinking only in terms of what the opponent _she'd _been facing would do in this situation, and hadn't given much thought to how _Fate's _would react; nor had she considered that their tactics would probably change if they were fighting as a team. She filed this away in her brain under 'mistakes I won't be making again'.

"**High energy signature detected. Risk level is high… recommend cartridge load." **Raising Heart said

"So, it might overpower you without another cartridge?" Nanoha asked. She considered this news for a fraction of a second.

"Load three." She said.

She didn't like losing.

* * *

Tsukuyomi looked at her brother, his weapon practically _howling _from the energy he was gathering; the mechanisms buzzing and screaming as the charge function ran non-stop.

She cast her gaze as best she could at Nanoha Takamachi, who appeared to be doing much the same.

She had assumed that Susanoo would simply be able to power through anything that anyone else could throw at him, just like he'd always done. But the power that Takamachi was currently building seemed to be much greater than her initial estimates… she took a few moments to recalculate exactly how much magical power each was gathering, and exactly what would happen if those two spells collided. Her expression turned thoughtful.

"Hmmm…" She said. "This plan may have been ill-conceived."

And then they fired. The two beams flashed across the frozen landscape, met, and...

* * *

"… Amy?" Lindy asked, looking over Amy's shoulder at the screen where she was monitoring the sensor data from the battle. There _should _have been a visual, but a large flash of light had caused it to go blank.

"Yes, Admiral?"

"Have your sensors been hacked again? Because these readings would seem to suggest that someone fired an Arc-en-Ciel at the battle site…"

"Hmmmm... no, no it's not nearly that big. Maybe if we fired it at fifteen-percent power… _maybe _twenty." Amy said hesitantly. "… Certainly no more than twenty-five."

"… Everyone's still alive, right?"

"Well, all their devices are still transmitting, at least."

Lindy sighed in a mixture of relief and frustration. "Kids are just too rowdy these days…"

* * *

The Director took a look at the readouts the surveillance drone had provided. "Now, what kind of idiot sets off something like that in their own face?" He asked nobody in particular.

"Excuse me, sir?" His current aide asked. Since there was nobody who was _not _field-qualified under his command, the person currently acting as his adviser and assistant tended to change every few days (or even several times in the same day) as agents were sent out on assignment and other agents returned. He frankly preferred it this way; it prevented him from getting attached to any of them, and ensured that he rarely got exactly the same advice more than once.

"Oh, just thinking out loud. Was there something you needed?"

"Oh, Tactical is requesting permission to send in a strike team. We can be on-site within five minutes, if you…"

"No, we're not going that far. The targets… no the entire situation seems a bit _odd _to me. Repeating strategies is fine if the strategy _works_, but this one has proven not to… so why are they doing the same thing over again? And despite the image she puts off, Admiral Harlaown has a mind like a steel trap. If I picked up that something's strange, I doubt she missed it, but she's moving in like nothing's odd…"

"You think this is a trap?"

"Yes, I'm just not sure who's trapping who. On the off-chance that the trap is for _us_, I'd prefer not to walk into it."

"Fair enough. I'll tell Tactical to stand down, and…"

"No."

"… but you just said…"

"We're not moving in to attack, but I still want an agent ready, and I'll need someone who can defend themselves. Don't forget, we have a package to deliver."

* * *

Nanoha coughed. A bit of dust came out of her mouth.

She imagined their must have been some kind of preexisting problem with the local environment. Maybe a pocket of explosive gasses had been trapped near the surface, and the shock had disturbed them; maybe this atmosphere was just naturally volatile and the only thing that had kept it from exploding all over the place before now was the low temperatures inhibiting reactions somehow.

Because certainly she hadn't sorely underestimated the extent of the damage the two attacks would cause when they hit and exploded. No, that couldn't be the case.

She couldn't see the others though the mushroom cloud (no, no, not a mushroom cloud, certainly she hadn't made one of those? It was just a thick cloud of dust and debris created by a large explosion that just happened to be _vaguely _shaped like something that might be a fungus of some sort), but a quick thought confirmed that everyone was still alive, if a tad bit confused as to why they'd all been sent flying. She also didn't see Susanoo or Tsukuyomi, which worried her. The explosion had been closer to them than her, and it had been rather huge. If they were caught in the blast… no, that wasn't the right way to think right now. They'd proven good at surviving things, and besides, if she worried too much about them getting hurt then she'd be distracted in the event they started trying to hurt _her_. She shifted Raising Heart into Axel mode, deciding that versatility was more use than range right this second. She considered going higher up to get a better view of the battlefield.

She felt the attack coming before she actually saw it.

Susanoo really did prefer close combat, and Artillery Mode was more-or-less limited to large, slow shots best used against targets that weren't moving around too much, so he'd elected to go back to his axe almost immediately. And then, recognizing that he and his sister were outnumbered, decided that it would be a good idea to take advantage of the readily available camouflage to attack the first person he found. There were six people to target, and the only one he needed not to hurt was also, conveniently, the one he could tell the location of easily. That left five scattered, disoriented mages who were all fair game. And lo and behold, here was a good one right now! Not Fate, but he'd try not to hold that against her before he sent her plummeting to the ground, battered and crushed.

Nanoha snapped Raising Heart into position just barely in time; it still wasn't an ideal defensive posture, so she was sent tumbling through the sky, but at the very least she wasn't cut in half. Wow, Fate hadn't been kidding when she said he hit like a truck…

_One of them is on me! _Nanoha sent out through the group link. _I don't see the other, though!_

"Nice reflexes." Susanoo said. "And I'm thinking you were the one who fired off that big cannon, right? So excellent power, too. Hmmmm… yes, I'm going to say that you're impressive! I like you, kid!"

Nanoha smiled tightly. "Like me enough to surrender?"

"HA! Sorry, but I don't like _anyone _that much."

"How about this? I'll make you the same offer I made your sister. If I can beat you, then you have to sit down and explain to me what you're trying to do." Nanoha said.

"Why, I have been specifically ordered not to disclose that! Accepting that offer would be highly irresponsible of me." He said in a mock-insulted tone. "So sure, why not?"

"… seriously?" Nanoha asked doubtfully.

"Why are you doubting me? You suggested it, didn't you?"

"I know, it's just that most people tend not to agree. Or at least, they don't agree so quickly. Your sister didn't…" Nanoha said.

"I love Tsukuyomi, but she's not big on 'fun'. A wager never hurt anybody, right? It spices things up a bit. But it's no fun if I'm the only one betting, so what do I get from you if I win?"

Nanoha blinked a few times. "I don't know. It's never come up."

"Well, that's lame." Susanoo said frankly. "I have to tell you all this great information if I lose, _plus _I'll probably have to go to jail because you'll arrest me, but I don't get anything if I win? Unfair, that's what that is. I'm starting to see why people never want to accept this deal."

"Um… well, I guess I could bet something… what do you think would be fair?" Nanoha asked, all in the interest of improved communications.

"… … … you know, you don't really have anything I want. There must be something, though… oh! Oh! I know! I never did get any of that picnic lunch you girls were eating, and it smelled nice. If I win, you have to get me some good Earth food like that. I bet a native like you will know all the best stuff!"

Nanoha couldn't help but giggle. "Okay, fine. We're wagering your secret plans and your true purpose against… lunch. Fate did say you were an odd one."

"She probably said 'awesome' and you just misheard her. It's all right, she talks very softly. I've been working on that, but sometimes I think she's not listening…" Susanoo said earnestly.

"You can ask what she meant yourself when she visits you in prison." Chrono said.

"Oh, that's not a bad id… e… a…" Susanoo began, his voice trailing off. He sighed. "… I'm about to be ambushed, aren't I?"

"**Stinger Snipe."**

As the storm of azure light slammed into Susanoo, Nanoha protested, "_Chrono_, it was supposed to be one-on-one!"

"Even if I hadn't _specifically told you not to do that_…" Chrono said sharply. "This one hurt my sister. I'm in no mood to play games with him."

"You're Fate's brother?" Susanoo said, emerging from the cloud of smoke created by Chrono's attack. His barrier jacket was torn and charred in a few places, but beyond that he did not appear to be all that inconvenienced. "Are you sure? Because I've been on the receiving end of spells from both of you, now, and I've gotta say: there's really no comparison."

Chrono shrugged and leveled Durandal. "Strength isn't everything."

"It doesn't hurt." Susanoo said, the air around him beginning to hum with power.

"No." Nanoha agreed, Raising Heart bursting into light. "I suppose it doesn't."

* * *

Tsukuyomi _almost _looked worried.

Susanoo had broken away from her side and engaged the enemy, when he was _supposed _to stay close to her. To make matters worse, he was outnumbered. To make matters even _worse, _three of the enemy mages were still unaccounted for, and with so much ambient magic in the air, she wasn't certain she'd be able to locate them easily even if her vision hadn't been impaired by this stubborn cloud of smoke and dust. At least it was beginning to clear with Susa's battle starting; he tended to create a lot of shockwaves, which were making it disperse more quickly.

There.

It wasn't Susanoo, but she could just barely sense someone flying through the sky above the cloud, preparing to swoop down upon his battle while he was already outnumbered. Tsukuyomi raised her weapon and said, "Suijin, can you acquire a steady target lock?"

"**Yes, milady."**

"Then do so. I see no reason to be gentle." Silver-blue light gathered at the tip of the staff… and she heard the distinctive sound of a device loading a cartridge from less than a foot behind her head.

"… … … that figure in the sky is your familiar. You were trying to make me expose my location." Tsukuyomi said, without turning around.

"You're not wrong." Fate agreed. "You're also under arrest."

Without another word, Tsukuyomi twisted in midair, bringing her head out of line with the other girl's weapon and snapping her own device at her, releasing the energy in a wild burst. It wasn't the most elegant attack in history, but at the moment getting out of this clearly disadvantageous position was the most important thing.

Fate's barriers held, though she was still pushed back before she managed to knock away the wild energy. Golden lightning gathered around Bardiche as she righted herself and responded to the attack in kind. "**Plasma Smasher, get set."**

Tsukuyomi attempted to dodge… only to have emerald chains wrap around her ankles from below. She did not waste the time to look, instead progressing from the logical assumption that one of the two boys whose abilities she'd not yet seen was responsible. To make matters worse, she detected motion above her; the familiar was attacking. Results were needed, and quickly.

_Step One: That attack must be dealt with_. At the moment, since she couldn't dodge, she would need to defend, but she also couldn't afford to focus all her defense in one direction. She decided to compromise. The barrier sprung into existence at the end of her palm, but came into being at an angle instead of a straight wall. As a result, Fate's attack did not hit it dead on and stop, but rather 'skipped' off, shooting off above Tsukuyomi's head along the surface of the shield. This was, of course, the point; by redirecting the energy above her, she forced the familiar to abandon its planned attack and come at her from a different angle. It bought only a few seconds, but that ought to be enough.

_Step two: restore my mobility. _"Break these chains." She said, speaking a little more quickly than usual. But not much.

"**Siren Song." **Suijin said, the air around it visibly distorting, as if by intense heat. The ripple spread until it touched the chains around her ankles, making them shatter like glass. Free to move, she retreated until she reached a spot she could actually see all three of her attackers.

They did not look terribly impressed.

"Please, just stop." Fate said calmly. "You're obviously intelligent enough to know you can't win… consider what you just did, all that energy you just spent to do nothing but get yourself to a position where defeat wasn't immediate. This will be simpler for everyone if you just surrender."

"I'm the director of the Infinity Library." Yuuno said. "Technically speaking, I'm a section chief, and Admiral Lindy from fleet operations is a close friend. You two haven't seriously harmed anyone, so the two of us and probably intervene on your behalf to shield you and your brother from criminal charges if you come quietly. Please, there are so many things I need to ask you…!"

"I'm sorry. Your offer seems quite generous, but I find myself unable to accept. Surrender is quite simply out of the question. And in any event, I still have a few options to exercise. There are, after all, tactics for a single mage facing a group. Permit me to show you one of them," Tsukuyomi said earnestly. She briefly hesitated, measuring the power she currently had available and considering how much of it this would require, but she honestly couldn't see a better tactic. She held her staff horizontally in front of her, intoning, "Suijin, become my holy armor, and let our divine wrath shine down upon those who challenge our master. Final drive… ignition." She said.

"**Moon God's Raiment, break limit." **

* * *

"They've fully engaged. Time for the next step." Enlil said. She idly waved her hand, and a portal opened with the motion of her arm. "You're next." She said to Amaterasu.

"Right-o!" Amaterasu chirped. "You two get along, now… or at least please don't murder Miss Precia, your majesty."

"I shall endeavor to control myself. _Get moving_."

After she had left, Enlil said to Precia, "Get ready, you're next. Your temporary command access is all set up, correct?"

"Of course, I tested it myself hours ago." Precia replied, a little insulted at this lack of faith in her planning abilities. "The only question is whether or not this toy will function as promised when we send it through."

Enlil shrugged. "The basic idea is sound. I triple-checked the schematics myself, and you can trust me when I say that _nobody _knows these devices better than I do. It will work as planned."

Precia looked out the window at the machine. "Well, I'll admit that it _looks _sturdy enough. It's not the weapon so much as the _source _of the plan in general that makes me wonder."

"Oh, that? Don't worry about that. My knights may be a tad… eccentric, but they get the job done. And believe me when I say that Amaterasu is their leader for a very good reason."

* * *

In his office, the Director smiled at the new reaction.

"I _knew _it." He said. "All right, time to send that message…"

* * *

In the skies above the dead world at dimensional coordinates 1174382001, two mages floated side-by-side. Their names were Raye Nissai and Tessa Gallant. They were two of the combat mages assigned to the _Asura, _and had been for some time; longer, certainly, than it's current Captain had held his position. Not that they begrudged Captain Chrono his rapid ascent through the ranks… both of them fully understood that he was light-years beyond either of them in terms of talent. No, they were perfectly happy with their humble station.

Besides, if they'd been more talented, they would have had to go with Captain Chrono to fight dangerous fugitives, instead of having the comparatively simple job of defending a big submerged piece of metal for Director Scrya. They'd seen plenty of combat over the years (Raye, in particular, had the dubious honor of having been on the initial team sent to capture Precia Testarossa, and consequently had been one of those fried within an inch of his life by her) and knew they didn't feel like seeing too much more if they could avoid it. Standard Bureau combat mages were quite effective against pirates, smugglers and the like, but against the kind of super-powered maniacs that the _Asura _tended to attract, they were just as happy to spend their time defending nice stationary dig sites and leave the really dangerous stuff to their _own _super-powered maniacs.

Raye smiled at Tessa and offered her a flask. "Thirsty? It's just water, but it's cold and wet, so that's something."

Tessa smiled in return. "Marry me." She said cheerfully, gratefully accepting the canteen.

"I _would_, but if you're willing to marry any guy who offers you a free drink, I really don't think our relationship would last."

"Yeah, but it would be a fun two weeks, wouldn't it?" Tessa teased. Realistically, the two of them had gone to the academy together and served together for the better part of a decade; if something had been going to happen, it would have happened by now. But that didn't mean they couldn't flirt. In fact, it meant they were practically required to.

"More fun than this week has been," Raye agreed.

"Oh, it hasn't been that bad. I mean, if you think about it, that guy was into lightning, so if we'd screwed the containment, we could have gotten electrocuted like you were that one time on the Testarossa case."

"… _one time_, that happened."

"And yet you'll never live it down. Funny how that works, isn't it?"

"See if I ever offer _you _water again."

"That's all? This is all you sent?"

"What's all?" Raye asked in confusion.

Tessa's eyes widened. "I didn't say that," She replied. Both guards whirled to face behind them, Raye sending out the alert as they did. The other guards along the security perimeter began to converge on their location. Tessa hoped they'd get there in time.

Amaterasu sighed as she floated out of the newly opened portal, her face just screaming 'disappointed'. "I don't understand you people. Your commander clearly considered the possibility that we might target the same Gate twice, or there wouldn't be _any _guards. But in spite of this, they still sent such a small force, and it's made up of… well, let's not mince words, you kids are cannon fodder. Not only that, but you're cannon fodder of only moderate attractiveness. I was hoping to run into my Arf here, but instead I get you small fish, and frankly? You just don't do it for me." Then her glum expression noticeably brightened. "Oh well, I guess I shouldn't complain if it makes my job easier. Now, before we start, please note that I'm not a very gentle girl. You might die here, and even if you don't, this is _really _going to hurt. If you choose to run, I won't chase you. If you don't… well, you were warned."

She didn't visibly move. She never activated her device. Raye wasn't sure exactly _what _happened, actually; all he knew was that one second, she was a solid thirty meters away from him, and the next she was right in his face and bringing her arm up from her side in a single lightning-fast chop across her body. Tessa looked horrified, but he wasn't sure why; nothing really _hurt, _although there was a strange pressure in his chest and there was a lot of something red in the air for some reason. A part of him realized he was probably in shock, but that part was swiftly losing out to the part of him that realized everything was going dark…

"That's one." Amaterasu said.

Realizing that he had once _again_ been utterly destroyed in a single shot by a magical woman, Raye Nissai decided to just close his eyes and embrace the unconsciousness. As he did so, he couldn't help but think, _At least I wasn't electrocuted this time._


	13. Rising Sun

**Author's Note: I'm noticing, that when I'm writing action scenes, they tend to end up much longer than I planned when I sat down to write them. This is the second time I've had to split a chapter in half. I blame Nanoha. It just wouldn't feel _right _if everyone wasn't all chatty when they're trying to blast one another.**

**Chapter 12: Rising Sun**

"Not good." Amy said at the highly annoying readouts. "Admiral, a second incursion has opened!"

"They're retreating?"

"No! It's at the site of the last Gate! The containment team is under fire!" Amy said.

Lindy fell silent for a moment. "So… Dysval was a feint? But both of them were there, so that means either their master is finally making an appearance, or they've been hiding their capabilities even more than we thought… Either way, we need to reinforce the defense team. Reroute one of the Enforcers from Dysval; ask Chrono who can be spared, if you can. Oh, and please send a message for me. Here, I probably shouldn't say it out loud…" she said, pushing past Amy and typing a short message, followed by programming the coordinates it was to be sent to.

Amy read it. "That's… that's the whole message?"

"Yes."

"Admiral, these coordinates… that's on Midchilda, but it's one of the abandoned sectors that were destroyed a few years ago in the Testarossa Experiments. There's nobody living there."

"That is correct."

"Admiral, what's going on?" Amy asked.

Lindy smiled. "Nothing at all. Why do you ask?"

"… … … you're planning something."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about. But you might as well send that message anyway." Lindy said in an artificially sweet tone.

And far, far away, on the world of Midchilda, in a crumbling, abandoned building, an independent remote terminal received the message. It said 'Things might be going out of control. Too soon to be certain, but be ready to move just in case. Sorry about this, I'd hoped not to put you in this position.' It then listed off two sets of coordinates.

The listener nodded and said, "All right then. Let's get ready to move."

* * *

She was actually rather beautiful.

Tsukuyomi's final drive was unusual. Her weapon had initially seemed to vanish, but it quickly became apparent that it had instead merged with her barrier jacket to form a set of silver armor. The gemstone that typically adorned her device was set in the center of her breastplate, the center of a stylized three-crescent design that matched the tattoo on her forehead. Similar gems also appeared on each of her newly acquired gauntlets. The entire ensemble glowed with a soft silver light at all times, and the overall effect made her look both lovely and somewhat otherworldly, like some kind of fairy.

Fate noticed this all, but did not really appreciate it because of the snakes.

The snakes had shown up rather quickly after Tsukuyomi had initiated her final drive. Shortly after taking on her weapon's strongest form, she had brought her hands together and said, "By our contract, reach across time and space to bring me my loyal servants."

**"Summoning: Mizuchi." **Suijin had said, and six silver-blue stars had burst into existence around her. The snakes had come out of those; simply slithered right out of the empty space with not even a ripple in the air. It had taken them quite a while to slither out, because each one was as thick around as two people standing back-to-back and roughly thirty meters long. They were actually quite pretty themselves, in a sense. Their scales were a vibrant blue-white, just a shade or two lighter than the skies of Earth, and they were certainly quite sleek in appearance; the way they swam through the air looked almost like a dance.

In structure, Fate thought they looked sort of like certain species of aquatic snake that she'd seen in zoos and the like, just a lot bigger. She was hardly an expert, but she vaguely recalled that water snakes tended to be extremely poisonous more often than not. This did not fill her with confidence.

Tsukuyomi reached out and patted one of the serpents on the head, and it rubbed against her gauntleted hand like a cat. "It's nice to see you again. I know you don't like the cold, but I'm afraid I needed some help. And I'm sorry there's only three of them for the six of you. But still, I'm sure they'll be quite nutritious, so you can eat them if you want to."

As it turned out, they _did _want to.

The 'mizuchi' did not appear to have any distance attacks of any sort, but they were fairly quick, even by her standards, and every bit as strong as one would expect a giant snake to be. The fact that she had to keep her eye on two of them at the same time didn't help.

One of the serpents came straight at her, a full-on frontal assault that could have charitably been called 'suicidal' if she hadn't known for a fact that the other had dove and was preparing to come at her from below. She only had time for one major spell, and a major spell would be required; Arf had demonstrated some ability to combat them physically, but Fate had received a painful shock up her arms and a disappointingly small wound when attempting to physically strike them with Bardiche. They may have _looked _sleek, but they were surprisingly solid. Logically speaking, then, the choice was to use something that could hit them both at the same time, which wasn't looking plausible unless she could get them closer together.

"Bardiche!" She said, flying straight up in an effort to get both mizuchi coming at her from the same angle. They technically were, but they were smart enough to split apart and try to catch her in a pincer movement. Luckily, for this spell, it didn't really matter. **"**Spears of thunder fly straight and true! Tear through the skies and strike down my enemy!**"**

**"Photon Lancer, Phalanx Shift, get set."**

An older spell, but a good one. It couldn't be directed after the initial shot, but it had a good deal of stopping power and a fantastic area of effect. Since she could only direct Plasma Lancer rounds towards a single direction at a time (she'd never been as good at that trick as Nanoha), this older spell was actually more useful for multiple targets.

The rain of golden light shot down at the serpents pursuing her. They did their best to evade, but it was sort of like trying to dodge individual droplets in a rainstorm. Both mizuchi were battered down, disappearing under the storm of energy.

What a difference a year made… not so very long ago, that had been her most powerful spell, and it had required all of her concentration. Now it _might _have been in the top five, and she could (as she had just discovered) pull it off when in full flight from giant snakes. She'd already known that she'd grown much stronger over the last year, but it _did _feel somewhat nice to confirm it so blatantly.

Fate let out a sigh of relief, and took a look around the battlefield while she had a break; Arf was doing just fine, and in fact seemed to be having a grand old time. Yuuno had one of the two serpents attacking him locked in a bind, and was effectively holding the other off with a series of shields. Fate briefly wondered which of the two she should aid...

One of the mizuchi she'd 'defeated' struck at her, and she only barely brought Bardiche up in time to catch it's fangs before they dug into her. She could see the wounds she'd inflicted closing before her eyes; a brief glance showed that Tsukuyomi was pointing a glowing hand at the creature. _So unless they're completely destroyed, she can repair them? Not good. _Fate thought. This was her first encounter with Summoning magic, and so far she wasn't enjoying it. _And I bet she can call on more of them… should I use Zanbar? These things are distressingly durable, and she's not playing with me like Susa would. I might not have a choice._

Tsukuyomi watched the girl in black intently. _She managed to destroy one before I could heal it. She __**is **__strong. If she uses her own Final Drive, and with those other two supporting her… I might need a bigger summoning. Do I have enough energy to bring in something large enough to defeat all of them?_

_And __**what **__is taking big sister so long?_

* * *

Amaterasu sighed in annoyance.

After the ease with which the first guard had fallen, she'd been hoping for a nice, simple battle. But these kids were surprisingly effective; they watched each other's backs, kept their distance, and focused on group defense rather than trying to take her down. So far, the one she'd taken by ambush at the beginning was the only one she'd managed to inflict more than minor bruises to. She'd hoped to be able to handle this without waking up her device, since she was hoping to save her energy for the top-class enforcers, but at this rate…

She was going to beat them. She knew it, and they knew it. The problem was that she wasn't going to beat them _nearly _quickly enough. Their defenses were sadly nothing less than…

**Magic Cancel.**

…Broken?

The Bureau mages had just enough time to let their eyes widen as their magical group shields flickered and died; the intricate web of defenses they'd prepared falling to pieces in the space of seconds.

Amaterasu spun, to see two black figures in the air behind her, both extending hands towards the Bureau mages. They didn't say anything to that effect, but the black circles around their palms suggested they were the ones disrupting their defensive efforts.

She narrowed her eyes. "You're those things that attacked Susa and Tsuku. Did… did you just help me out?" She asked suspiciously. "Because if that's the case, I just became _extremely _confused."

Without a word, of them raised their free hands and opened fire with wrist-mounted weapons… and missed her completely. No, they were aiming right past her, at the increasingly beleaguered TSAB team.

She blinked. "Well, I guess I'll learn to live with confusion." She said, and leapt back on the offensive.

* * *

"Axel Shooter! _Shoot!_" Nanoha commanded.

"Strike Flame, fire!" Chrono said, the jet of blue light joining the half-dozen pink bullets.

"Lightning Blade, go!" Susanoo ordered, swinging his glowing weapon in an arc around himself to intercept the incoming attacks.

The explosion rocked the sky for the tenth time in as many minutes, but when it cleared, all three combatants were still airborne. Nanoha held her staff at the ready, although the fight seemed to have gone to a lull after the last exchange while everyone planned what to do next. She took the time to cast a concerned glance at Chrono.

He was breathing heavily, and seemed to be far more tired than the battle should have made him. Chrono was a strong boy; maybe he lacked the raw power that Nanoha and Fate possessed, but neither one of them would have any confidence of defeating him in battle despite that. This level of combat should _not _have left him so tired. _Is… he was completely burnt out just a few days ago. Is this some aftereffect of that? _She wondered. The _Asura'_s medical officers had _said _that he would be completely recovered after a day of rest, but…

"You're… you're strange." Susanoo said, interrupting her reverie. "Your power is odd."

"How do you mean?" Nanoha asked, both out of genuine interest in starting a dialogue and genuine interest in getting Chrono a break.

"You… I don't know if you should be giving me this much trouble. I've been doing this awhile, so I've got pretty good instincts, and they're telling me you aren't as strong as Fate. But in a lot of ways, you're doing better than she does when we fight, so… I'm not sure what's going on. It's a little off-putting, frankly."

Nanoha smiled warmly. "Well… when we spar these days, she usually wins, so I think Fate is a little stronger than me. But you might have a hard time telling what her real power is like since I don't think she really knows how to fight you."

"Eh?"

"Fate used to be… well, I don't want to call her my enemy, but we were on different sides. She was stronger than me, and she'd been fighting longer… but in the end, I was the winner." Nanoha said. "She had a very harsh childhood, and experienced so little kindness in her life that she didn't know how to react to it when I tried to be her friend. So when we fought, she didn't do as well as she could have, because she didn't know what she wanted to do. She's gotten a lot better since then, but I don't know if she'll ever be completely over that feeling."

"Ooooooh, okay! That makes a lot of sense!" He said. "So you're saying I'm too nice, eh? Maybe I could get her to show a little more energy if I was really cruel and tried to kill her for real?"

"No! Not at _all _what I meant!" Nanoha protested.

"Hee, hee… you're more open than Fate, but you're just as fun to tease." He said cheerfully. "I wouldn't use lethal force on anyone who didn't try it on me first, _especially_ not on someone like Fate. Have you _seen _her? If I hurt her too badly, I'd feel guilty forever! It would be like… I don't know, like throwing a rock at a baby bird."

Nanoha sighed in a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Well, your sense of humor is a little… odd… but I guess your heart is in the right place. I suppose I'm glad that you and Fate are getting along, even if it is in a strange sort of way."

"I'm happy I met Fate, too. She's kind, cute, and strong, so it's easy to like her." He said cheerfully. "Hmmm… I guess all those things also apply to you, don't they? All right, it's decided! Nantoka Takahata, you're now my friend too!"

"Thank you, but my name isn't…" Nanoha began.

"I won't accept 'no' for an answer, buddy! And even though we're friends, you still have to buy me lunch if I defeat you here." Susanoo declared firmly.

"I wasn't going to say 'no'. I'd be happy to get to know you better. It's just that my name is actually…"

Continuing to ignore her, he turned to Chrono, who was looking a bit bemused. "You're kind of lame. I guess that since you're Fate's brother I'll tolerate you, but I don't really care if you want to be friends or not. You can do whatever you want."

Chrono's eyes widened. "'_Kind of lame'?!" _He snapped.

"Well, you just aren't very strong… it's a bit sad, but not everybody can be good at this, so don't worry too much about it."

Chrono didn't look happy. "Oh, that's it, I am going to kick your-"

_Chrono, we have a problem. _Amy's voice sounded in his head.

_I'm a bit busy right now!_

_You're busy fighting a distraction! They're making another move for the Gate they targeted last time!_

_But both of them are… the master showed up?! _

_Maybe not. _Nanoha interjected. _In the myth, Tsukuyomi and Susanoo are two of a set of triplets. When we first met, they mentioned an older sister…_

_Whatever the case, at last communication they'd reported a casualty. We need to reinforce them immediately! Can you spare anyone? _Amy requested.

He thought for a moment, looking at the other battle going on, and said, _Okay. We can spare Nanoha._

"_**What?!**_"Nanoha shouted.

_"_GAH!" Susanoo said, startled out of a complacent silence. He'd decided to be politely quiet while they had their obvious telepathic conference, and had been a little shocked by the sudden outburst. "What?! What happened?!"

"Sorry, it's nothing important, don't worry about it." Nanoha said calmly, giving a gesture that indicated nothing important was going on at all. _Chronooooooooo! No way, that is __**not **__going to happen! I'm not leaving you here alone! _She snapped internally.

_Nanoha, I'll be fine. I can take him._

_But you've been acting strange! If you're still sick or something from the other day, then…_

_Nanoha, there's already a team at the site, so I'd prefer not to give up too much of this group's firepower since we might never get a better chance to capture these two. That means we send one mage. Yuuno doesn't have the offensive power, I have to stay here with the larger of the two deployments, and Fate and Arf fight better as a unit. You go and assess the situation. Don't engage if you don't think you can win; just act as cover for the site team's retreat if you have to._

_I… I…_

_Don't worry. _Chrono said with a smile. _I can handle myself. We'll come support you as soon as we're finished here._

Nanoha smiled reluctantly in return. _That's my line. Be __**careful**__, Chrono. You don't seem…_

_Amy? Nanoha is ready for transmission. _Chrono thought before she could finish. In a matter of seconds, that familiar white light shrouded her, and she was gone.

Susanoo blinked in confusion. "Um… nothing personal, but you _do _realize that you just sent away your only hope of winning, right? I mean, I guess that you didn't have many _good _options, but leaving yourself alone was probably the worst…"

Chrono turned to face him, and said, "Not really. This way, I don't have to worry about anyone else getting hurt while I deal with you."

"Sure. You just keep telling yourself that." Susanoo said.

And then he charged.

* * *

Amaterasu looked down at the fallen mages. She smiled just a little bit as she saw that apparently, their Barrier Jackets were keeping them afloat… they wouldn't drown, at least. Her highness had wanted to keep casualties to a minimum for the initial stages of the operation, only killing opponents who seemed to pose a legitimate threat to the completion of the operation. Susa had no problems with this, but she and Tsuku had a tendency to play rough. Tsukuyomi just tried to get her work done coldly and efficiently without concern for much else, but Amaterasu freely admitted that she tended to over-do things once she actually got involved in a battle. Normally it didn't matter, but when she was trying _not _to exterminate the enemy, it got a little troublesome.

"So?" She asked the twin cyborgs. "I appreciate the assistance, don't get me wrong. But you things were bullying my darling little brother and sister, so unless you want me to peel you open and see what parts are still human, you'd better have a very good explanation for what's going on here."

Without a word, one of them raised its hand. A small black card appeared in the air over its palm. Without a word, it seized this card between its fingers and flicked it toward Amaterasu.

Also without a word, she caught it. _Some kind of data storage unit? Doesn't seem to be a trap… _silently running a basic analysis spell as she did. "And this is what? A message, demand for surrender, what?"

The two black figures 'spoke' for the second and final time. **For your master.**

Then, in a burst of static, they were gone.

Amaterasu gave the black card another look over. "For her majesty, then? Then I suppose that it's her call what to do with whatever is stored on here. Okay, could you hold this for me? And get out the Drive unit so I can…" She began to say to her device, only to stop in mid-sentence. The black card disappeared into the pendant, but nothing emerged in its place as she continued, "… never mind. We have one more guest."

Amaterasu turned to look at the little girl who had just appeared in the sky behind her. "Oh my… you're the one who's been giving Tsuku fits, then?"

Nanoha looked at her seriously, "Are you responsible for this?" she said, gazing at the fallen mages in the waters below. _Amy? Can you hear me? Things are worse than we thought. Withdraw the field team immediately, and get ready to bring me back if I call you._

"Mostly. I had some help." Amaterasu said. "Don't worry, I think I left them all alive. And their barrier jackets double as flotation devices? That's a nice touch. But you should still see about getting them some medical… oh, you've already called it in? What a thoughtful girl." She continued, watching as the people in question vanished from their places in bursts of white light.

"You _do _look like the two of them. Tsukuyomi and Susanoo. Might I ask how you're connected to them?"

"I'm their beautiful elder sister, of course!" Amaterasu said with a wink. "I'm sure they've told you all about me?"

"Um… actually, they might have mentioned you once or twice in passing, but that's it." Nanoha said earnestly.

"… … … … … eh?"

"They haven't really talked about you at all."

"Whaaaaaaat?! Oh, how could they?! So cruel, such cruel children! After all we've been through, they just pretend I don't exist whenever I'm not around?!" Amaterasu whined. "You're sure they haven't talked about me? Amaterasu! Am-a-ter-a-su! You're sure the name isn't familiar?"

"… Yes, that name _is _very familiar, but not for the reasons you're hoping. At most, they might have offhandedly said something about you, once or twice, but I'm afraid that's it. Sorry." Nanoha said, in what she hoped was a conciliatory tone.

"… Oh well!" Amaterasu said quite suddenly. "I guess those distant attitudes are sort of charming, coming from them. Deep down they're really just full of affection, but they're too shy to show it." She finished, closing her eyes as if picturing something nice. She began visibly blushing.

"… if you say so." Nanoha said, wondering _why_, exactly, she was visibly blushing.

"Oh, no, it's true. They're really just the cutest little things once you really get to know… them…" She said, opening her eyes and looking at Nanoha as if seeing her for the first time. "Oh, my."

"Is… is something wrong…"

Amaterasu continued to stare, floating closer to Nanoha and leaning over to look at her more closely.

This continued for several extremely awkward seconds.

"_Squeeeeeeeee!" _She finally said.

"Eeek!" Nanoha squeaked, caught somewhat off-guard.

"So adorable! Oh, my… I'm sorry, I've seen pictures, but they hardly do you justice!" Amaterasu proclaimed, eyes shining. "You're the very image of an adorable young schoolgirl in the spring of her youth, and yet you act so levelheaded and mature! Oh, it's too much!"

"… thank… you?"

"Oh, this outfit is just _perfect_, it is _so you_, but I think we can do _better _than perfect!" Amaterasu said cheerfully, examining Nanoha's barrier jacket. "I'm thinking something maybe a little sleeker? The ruffles and ribbons are very nice, don't get me wrong, a little girl in a cute frilly dress is never a mistake, but I think something a little more form-fitting would also look very cute on you… oh, now I can't decide what's better!"

"What _are _you…"

Amaterasu continued as if Nanoha had not spoken. "And your skin is so pale and pretty, maybe some darker colors would look nice on you, as a sort of contrast? Oh, but this white really creates that 'pure and innocent' image that the fans love… I know! We'll just need to get you a whole new wardrobe! That way you can have a bunch of different outfits, and you can switch between them for each mission!"

"The _fans_? What do you-" Nanoha began, her confusion only deepening.

"Oh, don't worry, they can be practical too! Like, let's say you need to fight someone that shoots lightning, then maybe you wear a rubber bodysuit! Oh, but that would look tacky, of course, so you wear it _under _something … a dress. Pink, plenty of frills, like this one, and… _yes. Cat ears._"

"_What?!" _Nanoha blurted, eyes wide in some combination of confusion, surprise, and just a tinge of fear. She was a relatively innocent young girl, but even she was quickly beginning to realize this conversation was going somewhere it shouldn't.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. I can see it now." Amaterasu said, closing her eyes to picture this. "Perfection_._"

Nanoha's mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out for several seconds.

"Hmmmm? Are you okay?"

"… a bit confused, is all. And a little worried..."

"Oh. OH! Sorry, yes, that's right, we should be enemies and all that." Amaterasu agreed. "… … … you're _sure _you don't want to wear the cat ears? Because I can get you some, and you'd just look…"

"No!"

Amaterasu let out a sigh of sadness. "Ah, well," She said.

She swung her hand around in a lightning-fast chop, something appearing in it mid-swing in a flash of red light.

The shift from slightly creepy conversation to battle was so sudden that Nanoha nearly lost the fight right there. As it was, Raising Heart was nearly knocked out of her hands by the sudden parry, and while she was off-balance she nearly found herself impaled by Amaterasu's free hand diving in at her midsection.

Nanoha shifted her weapon, bringing the shaft of Raising Heart in line with the incoming hand while still holding the spear at bay. The bare hand slammed into the staff with force that continued to surprise her coming from people who looked fairly normal except for the hair, pushing her back in the sky. Amaterasu did not pursue, instead watching intently and nodding once.

"Nice reflexes." She said. Her device, a six-foot crimson spear topped with a curved silver blade, a bit like a kwan dao or naginata, was active in her left hand. "If you'd been even a second slower, I would have taken your head off. Right, Kagutsuchi?"

**"Affirmative, General." **The spear said in a clipped, formal masculine tone.

"Did... did you _really _just try to kill me over cat ears?" Nanoha asked, a bit stunned.

Amaterasu giggled. "No, no. It's just that you've given Tsuku a lot of trouble, so I can't afford to be gentle with you. … Although I wasn't joking when I said that little cat ears would look just _adorable _on you. But if you really don't want to wear the ears, I have other ideas. How about something a little bit like what that girl in the black you work with wears? But I think blue might suit you better than black, and we could differentiate you from her by giving you… hmmm… maybe a hat would look nice? A cute hat, maybe a little bit gaudy but in a nice way, with bells on it possibly, or…"

"Prepare for combat, Raising Heart." Nanoha said.

"**Stand by, ready."**

Amaterasu sighed, and raised her weapon. "No appreciation for art, these days."

* * *

Blue light exploded through the sky, and Chrono went flying back, clutching a shallow cut to his midsection. His barrier jacket should handle the bleeding quickly, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. He gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Look, kid." Susanoo said. "I've been taking it kind of easy on you, since I can sorta empathize with having a frustrating sister. But the fact remains that is Fate is much stronger than you, and if _she _has trouble facing me one-on-one, you should be smart enough to realize that your hopes of victory left along with Nano… Nanto… what's-her-name."

"It's 'Captain', not 'kid'. And do I really seem like the sort of person who would just give up?!" Chrono growled.

"HA! Well, you get points for spirit, at least." Susanoo said cheerfully. In the blink of an eye, he closed the gap between them, bringing his weapon crashing down on Durandal in an overhead chop. "But _only _for spirit. Fire, Raijin."

"**Thunderclap!"** The axe said cheerfully. Still locked with Durandal, the blade began to glow blue before releasing what was normally intended to be a ranged attack directly into Chrono's face.

The lightning mostly broke due to being released directly into Durandal, but far, far too much energy poured into Chrono's barrier jacket. He was actually on fire in places as he tumbled from the sky with disturbing velocity and struck the ground so hard it cracked.

"Sorry, I had to be so rough… kid." Susanoo said. He began to wheel and head towards Tsukuyomi to help out, when a small movement caught his eye. "… you can't be serious." He said.

Chrono struggled to his feet on unsteady legs, raising his hand to wipe blood from the corner of his mouth. His barrier jacket had seen better days and Durandal had a visible crack running halfway along its main body, but he managed to find his legs and adopt a combat stance.

"Gods, you _are _serious." Susanoo said, floating down closer to the grounded mage. "Learn when you're beaten, kid."

"Didn't… I… just… say… I'm not the sort of person… who gives up?" Chrono said.

Susanoo blinked a few times… then a grin grew on his mouth. "You may only get points for spirit… but you get a _lot _of points. Okay, then, if you insist, I'll pursue this for as long as you can keep standing up."

Chrono smiled too. It was not a pleasant grin. "No, you won't."

A blue Midchildan circle burst into existence just as Susanoo charged, and a binding spell lashed out of it like a whip. The blue-white chains wrapped around Raijin in the blink of an eye, stopping the rush cold as the weapon refused to continue along with its wielder. "What the-?!" Susanoo managed to gasp out, before six more identical circles burst into existence around him and snared all of his free limbs. "This is six… no, _seven _binds all at once?! There's no way that you could have cast a spell this complex so quickly!"

"Quickly?" Chrono asked, his voice much more collected. He stood up straighter and brushed off his jacket. While he still didn't look exactly chipper, he seemed noticeably less fatigued than he had just a few seconds ago. "It's taken me the entire battle to set this up. Frankly, it's been a pain and it cost a lot of magical energy, but I think it was worth the effort, even if I did end up taking more damage than I planned."

"You… you were preparing this spell the entire time? Right from the beginning?!"

"That first attack? The one you 'shrugged off'? That was the marker, to make you the target for the delayed binds I've been setting up since then." Chrono said. He shrugged, as if it wasn't really important. "You were right when you said that I don't have Fate's raw power. So if I want to deal with a monster like you, I can't afford a long battle of attrition. Taking you down with a single huge strike is the best way to handle it."

Susanoo smirked slightly. "You have the control to set up a bind that can nullify even my strength, and you can do it when you're wounded and taking hits, while casting other combat magic at the same time? I'd say you're one of those 'monsters' yourself."

Chrono leveled his weapon at the trapped boy. "I'll choose to take that as a compliment. Durandal… bind him in chains of frost, and let him sleep from now until the world ends."

"**Eternal Coffin." **Durandal said.

"This… this isn't normal ice, is it?" Susanoo said as the air around him began to crystallize.

"Eternal Coffin. It's a freezing spell that slows the passage of time and halts molecular motion to almost zero within the area of its effect." Chrono said. "This is the spell that Durandal was specifically created to cast, a prison capable of containing even the highest class Lost Logia. You're a strong one, but nothing can escape without help from the outside. Don't worry too much; you won't _actually_ sleep forever, just long enough for us to prepare more mundane containment for you. Oh, and to make this official? You're under arrest."

Susanoo sighed and gave a self-deprecating grin as the ice worked its way towards his head. "I suppose this is what I get for underestimating Fate's brother. Nice one… Captain." He said as the spell closed, leaving him trapped in a crystalline tower.

Chrono turned to head to the other battle, not sparing him a second glance.

* * *

Red and pink blurs tore through the skies.

Even as she flew, Amaterasu clenched one fist in front of her, and it burst into flames. Nanoha, likewise, gathered light into the tip of Raising Heart without ever breaking pace.

Both released their attacks, a swarm of smaller bullets, at the same time. Streaks of pink light ripped into fireballs, the scattered shots ripping each other to pieces and exploding violently. Amaterasu burst through the smoke, her halberd held at her side and brought around in a wide arc as soon as she got within range for a physical strike.

Nanoha instantly saw it for what it was; if she tried to retreat, the deceptively long spear would still wing her, and if she tried to block, she'd be, at best, managing a stalemate and more likely get herself stabbed. So she took a third option. Cutting out her flight spell, she dropped below the arc of the weapon and raised her own device to take aim while still in freefall. "Maximum power, Raising Heart!"

"**Divine Buster."**

Amaterasu sighed in annoyance and almost danced out of the way of the incoming beam. "Really now, nulling your own flight spell to dodge an attack? You thought I would fall for a trick my own sister thought up?"

Nanoha, still in freefall, just smiled.

And that was when the tiny pink bullets, which must have been leftover from their earlier exchange, ripped through the sky towards Amaterasu and came uncomfortably close to ripping her _out _of the sky. A hastily erected shield took the brunt of it, but at least one bullet got through and…

"… you killed my jacket?" Amaterasu said, looking at the new hole in her barrier jacket. "I know it will repair itself, but really, that's just mean. Ah well, I guess it's better than if all of them had hit me. I might have gotten hurt."

Nanoha sighed, setting down on the ground (the ground? They must have flown further than she'd thought during the fight. She hadn't even noticed that they weren't over the ocean anymore. Just as well, since trying to land in water would have been embarrassing). "Well, it was _supposed _to hurt you. Not much, just enough so you'd lose consciousness and I could take you in…"

"Well, that's mean too. Shouldn't you be trying to make friends with me? Tsuku said you're big on that."

Nanoha had the good grace to look embarrassed. "Well… it's just that after all that talk about dressing me up in different outfits, I began to think that maybe it would be better if I waited to talk to you… not your sister, you in particular… _after _you were already in a jail cell. I mean, I'd still like to speak with you, get to know you… just when your hands are restrained."

Amaterasu pouted. "You sound just like Susa. A certain level of affection is normal!"

"Well, there's nothing wrong with being friendly but… I got the impression that you were being a bit _too _friendly, if that makes sense?" Nanoha said, sounding a bit unsure of herself. "Like maybe your interest wasn't something that I should be encouraging."

Amaterasu nodded reluctantly. "Well… you are a bit young, so I probably should have controlled myself more. Sorry about that. If it's any consolation, I think I'm starting to see why Tsuku thought you were dangerous enough to kill, so I'm probably going to finish you off."

"… why would that be a consolation?!"

Amaterasu shrugged and traced a small circle in the air with the tip of her staff. This circle burst into flames, and the turbine on the spear began to spin as its charge system activated. "Well, maybe it's not a very _good _consolation, but people who are about to die should really take what they can get. Reduce her to ashes, Kagutsuchi."

"**Blaze Cannon!" **The spear said, releasing a jet of flame that shot towards Nanoha, who raised her staff and responded in kind…

* * *

"Ah. Things have begun to go awry…" Tsukuyomi said softly, sparing her brother a worried glance. _Energy is beginning to become an issue. I cannot maintain my final drive for much longer if I seek to continue fighting, but if I abandon it, my summons will disappear… How aggravating. I had hoped that big sister would have come to our aid by now and we could finish this without using that woman's help. Ah, well… if Susanoo has been disabled, I have little choice but to seek aid where I can._

"Your partner has been defeated. Seal your device and hand over the Dimension Driver." Chrono said, joining the group surrounding her.

"Congratulations on defeating Susa, and thank you for not hurting him." She said earnestly. Her armor dissolved, returning to the form of a staff, and her summoned beasts vanished as their supply of magical energy was cut off. "But I'm afraid I can't simply surrender…"

Chrono did not seem particularly concerned by this. "You can't fight with your full power anymore, and you're outnumbered four to one. If you don't want to simply be taken in by force, I suggest you consider it."

"You are mistaken in several respects. First, there is still one card left to play, although I was hesitant to do so. Second, I cannot give you my Dimension Driver… because I don't have one." Tsukuyomi said.

"Then this _was _just a diversion." Fate said. "The Drive unit is with the person Nanoha is fighting?"

Tsukuyomi shook her head. "Again, you misunderstand. First of all, the person you sent your friend to battle is our oldest sibling, and our leader. She is selfish, and lazy, and childish, and a shameless flirt… but neither Susa nor I have ever defeated her one-on-one. Takamachi is skilled, but she is not 'fighting'. She is 'being defeated', even if she hasn't realized this yet.

"Second," She continued, ignoring the growing worry on the faces of everyone present. "This is not a 'diversion'. This is a 'trap'. Hold them, Suijin."

**"Time Seal – Eclipse Chain." **Suijin said, making the sky go dark as it moved the battlefield out of sync with time behind a containment barrier.

"It's time, Master." Tsukuyomi said.

* * *

Her master agreed.

Enlil took a deep breath, and raised one hand.

The darkened palace burst into brilliant light for the first time in centuries, an eye-searing scarlet glow centered on the cloaked queen. A portal opened, as before, but it could not be compared to the others… rather than a small window, this was an enormous rip in the fabric of existence, very nearly a full-on dimensional tremor. Indeed, the only major difference between the two was stability; whereas a rip or tremor would have continued growing uncontrollably, the portal reached a preprogrammed size and stopped.

It reached a preprogrammed size _outside_. Had it been within the palace, it would have swallowed most of the building.

Enlil fell to her knees and gestured to the window and the device outside it. "Go, and take it with you. _Hurry_."

Precia did not move for several long seconds. "You seem tired." She said, thoughtfully.

_Has she finally snapped? _Enlil wondered. "Of course I am! This… is… very… _hard! _You devised the ritual yourself, you know how much it costs! Now _go!_"

Precia stared for another second.

The initial ritual she'd developed had required fourteen Jewel Seeds to create a stable breach in the dimensional void. Yet Enlil was creating one so much larger than originally planned, by herself? Not possible. The strain should have destroyed her body ten seconds into the attempt. This confirmed beyond any possible doubt what Precia had suspected for some time now; there was an external power source of some sort at work here. And now she had a fairly good idea of its limits, as well. They were not terribly limiting, by most standards, but they did exist.

Every little chink in the armor helped.

Unfortunately, she was still not in a position to take advantage of the momentary weakness… it was just nice to know it existed. Content, for the moment, with leaving Enlil with the impression 'I could have done something if I'd really wanted to', Precia turned and floated serenely towards the window, which opened for her. It let in the cold, but thankfully nothing else; it was the palace's defensive shielding that kept the void energies out, not the glass. As she flew over the dormant machine outside, it too activated. Lights flared into existence across the dull metal surface, and with a scream of enormous motors bursting into action, it stood up.

And up.

And up.

Precia approved. While she loathed having to admit to any particular connection to that overly affectionate blue-haired twit, at the very least she could appreciate Amaterasu's penchant for overwhelming firepower.

* * *

The portal that opened behind Tsukuyomi was similar to the ones that they had seen before, in the same way that Arf's combat form was similar to a Chihuahua; A black tear in reality that extended for nearly a kilometer in every direction, blocking out so much of the horizon that Fate had to retreat a surprising distance simply to see how large it actually was. And for the first time, enough light was flooding into it to allow an image of what was the other side to be seen.

It was strange… Fate knew she'd never seen any of it before, and yet the city in the darkness looked oddly familiar. The architecture, the sigils glowing on several of the buildings, just the general _feel _of the place was simultaneously strange and yet somehow… nostalgic.

"It is. It has to be… but it _can't _be, the timing is all wrong…" Yuuno muttered under his breath. Fate was about to ask him what he meant, when a person came out of the portal, and thought became an impossibility.

Fate tried to say something, when she saw her mother. She didn't know _what_, but she tried to say something, anything. She just wasn't sure what to say, because she couldn't tell how she felt. No, that wasn't exactly true… she knew how she was feeling. She was happy. For most of her life, mother had been her most important person, and she was, in spite of all that had happened, glad to see that she was alive. The problem was that she was also sad, and angry, and frightened… little shards of all of these emotions were running through her brain all at once, and she didn't know which of them she should give voice to, which was most important. To say nothing of the _biggest _feeling she had right now, which was _shock. _

She wanted to say something. But all she could do was keep staring in stunned silence.

"That's… it can't be…" Yuuno said.

"No. No, no, no…" Arf said.

As usual, however, it was Chrono who fixated on what really mattered. "What…" He asked, "Is that thing behind her?"

And enormous metallic tower emerged from the monstrous portal, slamming down next to Precia with a crash. Then another one slammed down on the other side of her. Then the first inexplicably lifted off the ground, moved several hundred meters forward, and slammed down again. As this happened, what appeared to be a wall of metal began to appear out of the portal, and Chrono vaguely realized that the movement of the 'towers' were an awful lot like footsteps.

* * *

Amaterasu turned to look at the sky. "Things are starting to get serious, then? Okay, I suppose its time I dealt with this situation. I think I've got you down well enough. Kagutsuchi, halt her retreat, and then reconfigure for single combat."

"**Yes, General. Reality Prison, materialize." **The spear said in the same clipped, formal tone, like a soldier saluting a superior officer. The sky darkened as a barrier appeared, not a mere temporal displacement but a containment field designed to prevent escape.** "Exorcism form, set up." **The device continued, switching into a second mode. The actual changes were minor; the curved blade straightened and became more like a western spear than a kwan dao, and the shaft retracted very slightly. Beyond that, there weren't any visible differences in the weapon or wielder.

Amaterasu charged, and at least one visible difference became apparent.

_She's faster than before…! _Nanoha had time to think. Still, it wasn't horrible; Nanoha was used to sparring with someone even faster than that. Getting a barrier up in time was hardly impossible; the pink circle appeared in front of her, solid and strong.

Coming straight on instead of the usual wide slashes, the tip of Kagutsuchi struck her shield… and went right through like it was nothing but air.

Nanoha got over her shock just in time to avoid being impaled, parrying physically again. The spear slid past her guard and nicked her barrier jacket despite her best efforts, but she didn't _die, _which meant it was worth it. Rather than try to lock weapons, Amaterasu used her momentum to spin past Nanoha and take another slash at her legs, forcing Nanoha to fly backwards out of her range.

_What… what was that?! _Nanoha wondered frantically. _My shield didn't have any problems setting up, there's no way she could have just… _

Her confusion was interrupted by the feeling of something warm trickling down her left shoulder, where she'd been lightly hit a few seconds earlier. In disbelief, she stared at it to see blood beginning to soak through her barrier jacket. The cut was small, shallow and paper-thin, she couldn't even feel it through all the adrenaline in her system, but for such a weak hit to have gone through her barrier jacket at all, like it was nothing more than cotton…

Amaterasu flicked a drop of blood off her spear. "Confused? Don't worry." She said, raising the tip of her weapon and taking a stance. "It'll be over soon."


	14. Falling Stars

**Author's Note: I'm legitimately sorry this chapter took so long to come out. That's not the sort of thing I normally apologize for, but in this case I **_**thought **_**this chapter was more or less finished around the same time I posted the last one. But then I ended up scrapping the whole thing and starting from scratch at least twice because I just **_**couldn't be happy with it**_**. Yeah, it was one of **_**those **_**chapters.**

**Chapter 13: Falling Stars**

"A third incursion? And we've lost contact with both sites?" Lindy asked.

"Yes, Admiral. Barrier spells have been cast on both battle zones; we can't manage communications or retrieval yet, but I'm working on it. Hopefully I should be able to at least manage communications soon, but for now we're completely cut off." Amy admitted sadly.

Lindy sighed. "Well, they might have started moving already, but just in case… send a message, just the words 'move out'. Same coordinates as before."

Amy arched one eyebrow. "You mean the coordinates that 'don't have anything'."

"Yes."

"… You're not going to tell me what's going on, are you?"

"Nothing's going on." Lindy said cheerfully.

"You know, Chrono may not be as much fun as you, but at least he keeps me in the loop."

"There is no loop to keep you in." Lindy said, just as cheerfully.

"Yeah, yeah." Amy grumbled, transmitting the message as she did.

* * *

"_Fall back!_" Chrono snapped, following his own advice as he gave it. He didn't want to admit it, but his eyes were being fairly clear on the subject. The thing was only half-way out of the opening, but if it was proportionate to its legs, the war drone… and that's what it _had _to be… was roughly equal, in terms of sheer mass, to the _Asura. _He didn't even want to _know _what kind of firepower that sort of thing would have.

His people, while understandably still somewhat shocked for more than one reason, had the presence of mind to follow his orders… except for Fate, who was simply floating in place, dumbfounded. Chrono, not for the first time in his life, cursed Precia Testarossa. His sister was a strong girl, but she was also a girl that had been horribly traumatized. Just by _existing,_Precia was poking her in a gaping emotional wound that was far from finished healing.

Precia looked directly at Fate, and smiled.

It was not a nice smile.

The combat drone behind her took its final step onto the battlefield, and the enormous portal closed behind it. The machine itself vaguely resembled a clawless, four-legged metal crab, with the exception of a cyclopean 'head' protruding from the otherwise flat disk of the main body. Precia, almost lazily, pointed one finger at Fate, and a six-pointed white star appeared in the air in front of the machine's single red eye. **"Primary weapon systems, locked on." **It said, a massive bass-deep voice that brought to mind a vengeful god looking down and declaring what it saw to be unworthy.

"_Fate_!" Chrono shouted, turning instantly to rush to his sister's aid. He didn't even make it halfway, because Arf had beaten him to the punch by a significant margin.

Arf tackled Fate out of the way at top speed, eliciting a startled grunt from the girl. "Arf?" She managed to say.

"It's okay sweetie, it's all gonna be…" Arf began, still going into evasive maneuvers as she did so.

The weapon fired.

The machine that Amaterasu had lovingly unearthed and which Precia was now in control of was technically named 'Aharasala Heavy Industries AS Cannon Platform, model 201'. It was more commonly referred to as a 'Colossus'. It was not, generally speaking, an anti-mage weapon; of course, 'generally speaking' the best weapon to use against a high-level mage was another high-level mage, but in this case, the Colossus was not an anti-mage weapon because using it against individual mages was the grossest of overkill. The 'AS' meant 'anti-ship', as the Colossus was a mobile defense platform designed to repel orbital bombardments, with weapons meant to be used against warships and armor designed to withstand return fire from the same. Using firepower of that level in an anti-personnel capacity was roughly the equivalent of using a flamethrower to rid your house of termites; it would work, but the collateral damage would make it hardly worthwhile. Basically the only safe way to use such a weapon was to make sure it was only ever pointed straight up, in which case it worked very well.

As Amaterasu had reasoned, however, if the battle was taking place in an area you didn't really care about damaging…

There was a burst of rainbow at the origin point of the blast, but the beam itself was pure, vibrant white. It streaked through the space that Fate and Arf had vacated only seconds before, flying across the landscape and punching right through the containment barrier. Tsukuyomi sighed in annoyance before reestablishing it. _Full power? It would be overkill with half that, __**and **__it would save me a great deal of energy on keeping this barrier up. _She thought, resolving to inform Precia of this at the next available opportunity. These cannons could only fire at full force once every five minutes or so, so there would be time.

It continued along the frozen plains until it struck a small mountain range and exploded.

The light was impossible to look directly at; Chrono knew better than to even try, but Yuuno was briefly blinded. Gale force winds briefly rocked the area as the shockwaves from the blast were felt even through the time seal. When the maelstrom cleared, the vast majority of the distant mountain that had taken the direct hit was simply _gone. _The remnant was glowing red hot, carved out as smooth as glass. Several nearby peaks were likewise missing significant portions of their former selves, sizzling in the air. "What the…" He managed to stammer out. _Are… are they completely insane?! A weapon like that against individual mages?! That's at __**least **__an anti-army magic, only an utter lunatic would risk using that kind of firepower anywhere near their own troops! _He thought. And in reality, an utter lunatic _had _considered this; in fact, several utter lunatics had considered this, the plan had been approved by someone who recognized they did some of their best work by _being _utter lunatics, and the woman pulling the trigger was unstable at best. This just goes to show that Chrono really does know what he's doing, even when he doesn't know that he knows.

Arf fought down a growl. That had not been a non-lethal spell by any stretch of the imagination, and yet that _witch _had discharged such a weapon at Fate, at her own flesh and blood. Arf looked at the little girl in her arms, who still seemed to be having trouble processing what was going on, and didn't even bother to hide the snarl in her throat or the fact her eyes were rapidly becoming less human. _That witch is doing it again…she's hurting Fate all over again…!_

Precia, in turn, seemed to have already forgotten about Fate, in favor of casting a scathing glare at Chrono himself.

"I remember _you, _too." She said coldly, raising her staff. The skies went darker than ever, and violet lightning began to play among the clouds.

_We may be in trouble, _Chrono thought.

* * *

Nanoha gripped her shoulder in confusion. Her shields had been steady and solid, her stance perfect. And yet somehow, that spear had gone through both her defensive spell and her barrier jacket as if they were empty air.

_How… how did she…?_

"I showed you a bit of my real speed, but I'm guessing you're more concerned with how I broke your defenses?" Amaterasu asked almost conversationally. "It's natural to be confused, but don't lower your guard."

Then she struck again.

It was strange to see… one second, she was a reasonably safe distance away, the next the tip of the spear was uncomfortably close to Nanoha's face. 'Within six inches' close.

Not for the first time, Nanoha thanked whatever combination of luck and destiny had conspired to let her meet Fate. Not simply because Fate was her dearest friend, and the girl who understood her better than anyone else… no, right this second, she was tad more grateful for the fact that it meant she regularly sparred with someone much faster than herself. It had kept her from being impaled at least twice so far. A bit more _pragmatic_ than she liked her thoughts of Fate to be, but as she the spear slipped so close to her head she could feel the wind from the thrust, she decided Fate wouldn't have problem with it as long as it kept her first real friend from ending up in the Bureau's KIA files.

Amaterasu shot past her, but recovered distressingly quickly, spun on one heel out of her charge and swept her spear at Nanoha's legs. No longer trusting her defenses, Nanoha took the battle back to the skies rather than try to deflect the blow. _The first thing to do is find out what works and what doesn't. Barriers are out, but let's see if offensive spells have any effect._

She whipped her hand around, sending a half-dozen pink bullets racing out. Amaterasu wove almost effortlessly through the hail of light, unable to avoid only one of the bolts… which the tip of her spear sliced through, making it break into harmless specks of light before vanishing entirely. This looked impressive for a brief moment, before the other five bolts turned in the air to pursue the blue-haired woman and forced her to cut off her attack on Nanoha to defend herself.

_So this form dispels anything the spear cuts? _Nanoha thought, considering what she'd seen so far. _I'm not sure exactly how it works, but that's the general effect. _A good effect, too, especially in use against mages like Nanoha, who were better at the energy half of combat magic than the physical half. It was days like this that she wished Raising Heart was a little bit of a better melee weapon; it's only real close combat form was in Excelion mode, and even that made a blade out of magical energy for its up-close attacks. She might as well try fighting with a sword made out of crackers for all the good _that _would do her. _Still it's not like she has no weaknesses. _Nanoha observed, watching the woman persistently dodging or cutting the bullets, rather than raising any shields or attempting attack magic of her own. If her device was anti-magic, it would only make sense that using it to cast spells wouldn't work.

So the woman was more or less immune to magical assault, or at least easily able to counter it, but was in turn unable to cast any spells that required her device. With her defenses thinned like that, a physical, and if possible entirely non-magical attack might actually be the best option.

_If I actually had any of those, I might be more confident. _Nanoha thought dryly as Amaterasu batted away her last shot and turned to face her. _But it's a starting point._

* * *

_Not good! _Chrono thought, the smell of ozone filling his nostrils as violet lightning struck far, far too close for his taste. The storm got more intense the closer he got to Precia, and the bolts seemed drawn to magical energy, the result being that nearly any attack he tried to launch at her, close- or long-range, put him in danger of ending up on a fried food menu. Attack and defense all in one, and she was still maintaining some pretty sturdy automated defenses, as the few (wasted) attacks he'd managed to get off had shown… as much as he might have disliked the woman personally, you couldn't say she didn't know what she was doing.

_Scrya, are you… _Chrono began, before he actually caught sight of Yuuno. The librarian was floating serenely, shrouded in soft green light. A bolt from the sky struck him, but the only indication he even noticed it was a ripple in his personal shield. Rather than stop there, however, a trail of emerald ran back up the path the lightning had taken, and the gathered clouds began to thin when it reached them.

_I think I've defused that annoying storm, but that's about all I could manage. No way any of my bindings will stick through her defenses, and this barrier is a lot more sturdy than I expected. _Yuuno replied tersely.

_Fair enough, good work. For now, just stay turtled until I can think of a plan. _

_I'm not a turtle, I'm a ferr… I __**mean **__I'm a __**person**__! _Yuuno snapped mentally.

_Not the time to discuss your bizarre animal fixation._

_I do __**not **__have a-_

_**Dodge! **_Chrono mentally screamed.

Yuuno, not being one to test that sort of thought, took off straight up as quickly as he could manage. The shockwaves from the white beam that tore through the air he had just vacated sped that up quite a bit more. "Aaaaaaaah!" Yuuno said eloquently as he was sent tumbling through the sky. _Ow… I'm going to have bruises on my bruises tomorrow… _He thought.

_This is bad. _Chrono thought. _Here's the game plan. Arf can take care of Fate, and we move in closer to keep them from firing that cannon. I can hold Precia for a bit, so I'll need you to watch my back, but it's more important to get this barrier down and get us __**out **__of here. If it's a choice between protecting me and doing that, you __**do that**__. _

_We're retreating?  
_

_Unless you __**wanted **__to be vaporized._

… _Actually, I've been working on that barrier thing since Precia showed up_. Yuuno admitted sheepishly.

_Well, keep trying… I'll give what support I can, but don't depend too much on me. We need to hold out until we can retreat, or Fate manages to pull herself together. Either way, we should... _Chrono began.

Realistically, Susanoo was still trapped, and Tsukuyomi was busy attempting to reclaim some of her lost energy while Precia provided a distraction. Had he managed to get his plan fully into action, he and Yuuno very likely _could _have pulled it off by themselves.

Unfortunately, he was neglecting one very important thing: very few things can get as _angry _as a canine, even a humanoid one, whose master has been threatened.

Fate's feelings for Precia were varied, ambiguous, and incredibly confusing. Arf's were not. She _hated _Precia Testarossa, hated her with every fiber of her being. As Fate's familiar, a being that was literally _born _to protect Fate, she couldn't help it. Precia had hurt Fate more than anybody else alive, both physically and emotionally, and Arf despised her for it.

And so it was the Arf took the barely coherent Fate to ground level and deposited her in a small outcropping of the local vegetation where she'd harder to see or target (the local vegetation was brutally hard to kill, so it had managed to survive the running fight surprisingly well. Had this fight been taking place in the wilderness on Earth, the wilderness on Earth would have been kindling ten minutes in).

"Stay safe, Fate. I know you wouldn't want me to kill her, so I won't." Arf said, her voice far more calm than her eyes suggested she actually was. "On purpose."

And that's when Arf threw caution to the wind and launched herself, full-force, at her master's tormentor, just a good familiar should. It was also, not coincidentally, when things _really _began to go wrong.

Arf was more or less a flash of light as she rushed, full speed, at the witch. Her body shifted as she flew, turning from attractive young lady to monstrous killing machine, a roaring golden aura limning the red fur and sleek muscles. She intentionally looped over the Colossus, the wolf descending on Precia from above with, whatever she might have told Fate, lethal intent.

About five feet away from her target, she slammed into a web of violet light and was forced back as lightning ripped through her body.

Precia looked up at the singed wolf with a slight smile. "My, this is nostalgic. Haven't we done this dance once before?" Precia flicked her fingers, and the web of light snapped out like a snare, wrapping around Arf and igniting with purple-white lightning that shot through the trapped familiar. "As I recall, it went a lot like this."

_Aaaaahh! No! Not again! _Arf thought. Her body exploded with magical energy as she ripped through the net with main strength, dispelling the violent energy ripping through her body in a burst of gold. It fell away from her in a rain of sparks, and she released a triumphant snarl as she prepared to continue her assault.

She very nearly started before a bolt of purple light struck her in the center of her chest and hurled her backwards through the sky.

"Fate _still _can't power a decent familiar, I see." Precia said dismissively.

_**Arf?! **__What the Hell are you trying to pull?! Back off and wait for my support! _Chrono snapped, beginning his flight towards Precia rather more frantically than he'd originally planned. Knowing Arf, though, he recognized that he'd better go faster because she _wasn't _going to listen him.

Smoke curling off the enormous burn on her chest and struggling just to stay airborne, Arf fought to focus her thoughts through the haze of agony. _This is… this is wrong… I'm stronger than last time, so how is it going exactly the same as before?! No… she looks different too. _Arf realized. _Her skin's not so pale, the bags under her eyes are gone… she looks... healthy. Cured? If she wasn't at her full power last time, and she is now, this could be bad…_

"_Dammit!_" Arf snarled, her canine form making the curse come out even harsher than normal. A circle flared to life around her, and balls of golden lightning joined it in short order. She was no longer holding back even slightly, fully aware that doing so was just going to get her killed.

The lightning flew through the sky… and struck another of the purple webs that had stopped Arf's own charge. Precia didn't _quite _roll her eyes. Then she took a glance at something off to the side and smiled wickedly. "Hmmm… well, I see no reason I should have to do all the work myself…" Waving one hand, she sent the entire mass of energy, both her own web spell and Arf's trapped attack, directly at the pillar of ice on the edge of the battlefield.

"Oh, no you don't!" Chrono snapped, releasing a wave of azure light from Durandal that leapt at the ball of purple and gold… only to be intercepted by a silver bolt as Tsukuyomi reentered the fray at the worst possible moment.

_No, no, no… _Chrono thought frantically, trying to charge another spell before…

Precia's attack hit. The crystal cage, impossible to escape from the _inside_, shattered under an external attack, the ice dissolving into blue sparks before it even hit the ground. Susanoo opened his eyes and smiled. "What do you know? I really _couldn't _get out on my own." He said.

Chrono thought about this new development for a moment. _Well. Things are not going according to plan, I'd say._

He took an experimental stretch, and winced as his neck cracked. "Ow! You know, Captain, before you put people into freezing spells, you should see what they're like on the inside. Because I've gotta be honest, that was incredibly uncomfortable, and I'm all stiff now. Hey! Tsuku! How come you didn't give me a hand?"

"I was busy."

"Well… I would be angry, but I guess Miss Precia got me out, so I'll forgive you. Buuuut… _hey! Pressie!"_

"Call me that again and I will have your remains in a tube in my laboratory by the end of the day."

"Touchy, touchy. Not that I don't appreciate the save, but… what exactly do you think you're doing?!" He said, pointing at the remains of the mountain she'd leveled. "Be _careful! _You're going to kill somebody if you fire that thing at full power!"

"That's the idea." Precia replied.

"Not if the 'somebody' is us." Tsukuyomi interjected. "When firing at close range targets, please restrict your fire to 50% output. That should be sufficient to strike a lethal blow and decrease the chances that you will destroy us all."

Precia shrugged. "Fair enough." She said, almost idly swatting aside another lightning blast from Arf. "Did you hear that, machine? Restrict your shots to minimum lethal yield."

**"Confirmed."**

"Geez… isn't that a bit ruthless?" Susanoo said, looking crestfallen. "Hey! Captain! You should maybe run. Look, if Precia's here, it means our master is getting impatient. I can't just let you go, but if you can get outside Tsuku's barrier and get back to your ship, I think I can declare the engagement won and justify cutting off pursuit. It's not much, but it's the best I can offer you."

_... It's kind of strange that we agree with him, isn't it? _Yuuno thought.

_I know, but Arf is more or less nonverbal at this point. We need to pry her away from Precia before… _He began. He didn't quite finish the thought before a silver blade slammed in Durandal, forcing him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry about this." Susanoo said. "But like I said, I can't just _let_ you go…"

Yuuno, likewise, turned to head for Arf, only to find the girl in the blue and green dress in his path, her staff held ready. "This is where it ends." She said simply.

_Chrono! I can't get to Precia, but I'm going to keep trying to bring down this barrier! Let Amy know we need to withdraw!_

_AH! I can't get a clear signal, and this dolt isn't making it easy! _Chrono said, lightning running off his shields. _Until the barrier drops, I don't know if I __**can **__reach the _Asura!

Yuuno smiled wryly in spite of himself. _Well then, we're even, because I'm starting to wonder if I can break the barrier by myself. _Then silver light crashed against his own shields, pulling him back to a far more immediate problem.

In the thicket below, Fate looked up. _Look at me. I really am pathetic… I'm acting like a little girl again… _

Taking a deep breath to steady her shaking hands, Fate got to her feet. She could admit that she… she wasn't quite sure what to feel about Mother.

But Arf was suffering.

She wasn't completely sure what to feel about mother… but she knew very well what Arf meant to her. If it came down to a choice between her mother and her fami… no, her mother and her _sister_, she knew very well which she would choose.

"Let's go, Bardiche. I'll need all the power you can give me." Fate said, rising to her feet.

"**Zanbar Form, get set. Drive Ignition.**" Bardiche said. Fate took to the skies.

* * *

"We ready to move yet?"

"The transfer is almost complete. We have to do this unaided, you know. This is very much off the books, so we can't risk leaving a trail in any Bureau equipment."

"Unaided? There are _five _of us."

"Six!"

"Six, six. Sorry, kid. My point is, if the spell needs more power, we've _got _more power."

"The spell has more than enough power. The problem is control. Both locations are in a state of dimensional flux. We have to be very careful that we don't try to teleport into the path of an attack spell or bounce the transmission off someone's barrier and end up scattering ourselves all over the target world."

"Yeah, well… do it faster."

"Calm _down._ We're going as fast as we can. It shouldn't be more than a minute or two now. They can hold out that long."

* * *

_Man… hurry up, guys! I don't think I can hold out more than another minute or two…! _Arf thought.

Suspended from thin air by violet chains, burned and broken, Arf growled in defiance nonetheless. She'd had to abandon her combat form and shift back to human shape due to simple exhaustion; not good, but with the fatigue had come a bit more ability to think through the rage and the realization that retreat was the way to go at this point. Unfortunately, she didn't have the power to _do _it anymore.

_Trying! _Chrono said. "Durandal!"

**"Diamond Edge." **The staff said, and glittering razors of ice materialized around Chrono, their edges pointed towards Susanoo.

"Oh, my… that's a nasty looking spell, Captain. I don't think it will work on me, though…" Susanoo said, conversationally. "My body's a bit tough for a physical blade."

"Grant strength to my sword, that before me those accounted my enemies might fall before me. To these hands, the power to vanquish those who threaten that which I have chosen to protect." Chrono incanted.

"**Spear of Priam.**" Durandal said, and the spears of ice began to exhibit an otherworldly blue glow. Mist rose from them, and the ambient temperature of the air dropped noticeably.

Susanoo got a small smile. "_That _might work." He admitted, raising his axe, which took on a glow of its own as its charge turbine began to spin.

Not so far away, a jet of water that could have crushed plate steel like paper smashed harmlessly into a green barrier.

Just like the assorted energy blasts. And binds. And the sword, from when she'd tried a physical attack.

Tsukuyomi gave a small sigh. "Your defenses are… formidable." She admitted. Never before had the word 'formidable' sounded so very much like 'annoying'. "But you simply lack the offensive capabilities to defeat me on your own. All you can do is make this take far longer than it has any need to…"

Yuuno, who was already multitasking in maintaining communications with Chrono _and _trying to get out of the barrier _and _watching for an opening to get to Arf, chose not to respond right this second. Although he could agree, as he saw Precia raising her weapon again at the now-helpless familiar: this _was _taking far too long.

Precia allowed herself a satisfied smirk as she leveled the staff. "This time, let's see if I can't get this right…"

A golden blur exploded between them, ripping the binds away from Arf and forcing Precia to withdraw behind her defenses and shield her eyes from the sudden light. When she was able to see clearly again, she found something she had to admit she truly hadn't been expecting to see.

"Leave. Her. _Alone_." Fate said, leveling a massive sword that seemed to be made of nothing but lightning.

Precia nodded. "I see you've upgraded your device. A Belkan cartridge system? I suppose it has its uses, but in the end it's just a crutch. You'd be better trying to develop some genuine talent instead of relying on magical steroids."

Fate narrowed her eyes. "I'm not here for your criticism. I'm taking Arf and we're leaving. If you try to stop us, I'll… I don't want to hurt you. But I will if you lay one more _finger _on her."

Precia rolled her eyes. "Oh, my. You've developed a backbone. How cute. Go right ahead and make the attempt, if you think you can."

Fate fought down the butterflies in her stomach. As far back as she could remember, mother had been… not exactly a terrifying figure, although Fate realized that she always _should _have been more afraid of mother than she had been. But mother was _strong_, powerful and skilled. She also knew, however, that mother had no idea what she was capable of, not anymore. _I should be able to take her off-guard, at least once. I just need to make sure that's enough…_

The bolt of purple energy was painfully simple and straightforward… from any other mage, Fate would have considered it insultingly basic and simple to block as she swung the Zanbar blade to intercept.

In this case, however, the sheer force of the strike nearly took her arms off. She would hardly say she'd never seen a more powerful attack… she'd been on the receiving end of several and launched several more. But not from such a simple spell. It had been an almost generic buster, the most basic of basics, without any sort of enhancement or noticeable preparation, and yet it was still powerful enough that it would have cost Fate at least one cartridge. And even as Fate watched, the energy from the dispersed attack gathered together into tiny pinpricks of light that hurled themselves at her. She made the effort to dodge, but rather than actually strike her, the bolts _exploded _in a wave of electricity that left absolutely no prayer of dodging. A hastily constructed shield managed to blunt the strike, but Fate still felt her nerve endings scream as the energy ran through her body, leaving her feeling shaky and more than a bit singed. A trap hidden within an attack, all cast within seconds of another spell without the slightest incantation or even real pause…

Mother, it seemed, really _had _earned her reputation.

_This is bad… as odd as it sounds, I wish she were trying harder. _Fate thought. She was not on mother's level, not yet… she knew she'd only get one real shot at a victory here, and it wouldn't happen unless mother was off guard. If she could goad Precia into a more complex spell, something that would hold all of her attention, even if it was just for a few seconds…

And of course, as if to prove to Fate that the world enjoyed toying with her, mother then did the absolute worst thing possible. Rather than cast a spell from her own powers, she pointed in Fate's direction, and the Colossus said, "**Secondary weapons systems, locked on.**" Small… well, small by comparison… cannons emerged from hidden compartments on the main shell of the machine.

And then they pointed right at Fate.

_Uh-oh. _Fate thought. She supposed that smaller defensive emplacements made sense, tactically speaking, but they were _extremely _annoying for her purposes. And of course, they got even _more _annoying when they opened fire on her. The bolts were similar in _nature _to a shot from Nanoha's Axel Shooter (which was good because Fate had a lot of experience dodging that), but with a few key differences; they were slower, and didn't move to follow her, which was good. They were also, however, larger Nanoha's typical shots… and in fact, larger than Nanoha herself… and Fate had the uncomfortable feeling they would kill her if they connected. That was bad. She flew out of the path of the first salvo, planning to wheel back around and make some sort of counter-attack, only to collide painfully with something solid and glowing purple in the air behind her.

_A shield… she's trying to box me in. _Fate reasoned, watching as the purple glow began to expand, cutting down her potential range of evasive maneuvers. She could still dodge such slow shots, without a wide sky, so she wouldn't be caught so easily… unless the defense guns shifted to target Arf, who was barely still able to float. As they just had.

_No, no, no! _Fate thought frantically, diving between the machine and her familiar, swinging the Zanbar blade as she did. The expected bolt of white light slammed into the golden energy sword, and…

Well, the Zanbar held quite well. Fate herself had more trouble.

The power of the attack pushed her backwards, carrying both her and Arf until they slammed painfully into the shield Precia had raised to contain Fate earlier. It was hard to say who had it worse off… Fate was being crushed against something soft, at least, but she was also the one holding the sword that was keeping the ball of white death from vaporizing them. She pressed back as hard as she could with no visible effect; spurred on by Arf's groans as her wounds were pushed against, she began gathering energy in her blade. Once the sword was glowing so brightly she could barely look at it, she _swung _with every last bit of power she could muster.

The white energy bolt dispersed, cut in half, and the wave of force released by Fate's sword continued onward toward Precia. The woman, without any noticeable concern, swatted the attack away with a glowing hand. "Really. I suppose you've improved slightly, but the doll can't defeat the dollmaker. You of all people should… know…" Precia began, but her voice trailed off as she noticed something about the hand she'd used to deflect Fate's attack.

It was cut.

Not a large cut. Most people wouldn't have even bothered to bandage it, just run it under cold water for a minute or so. But a few drops of blood were running down her pale palm.

_I have been cut_.

_By Fate._

_By that horrible little doll, that mockery of a human being! How __**dare **__she?! How __**dare **__that repulsive little __**thing **__attack me?! I __**gave **__her the parody of life she has, and she has the raw unmitigated gall to raise her hand to me, to __**wound **__me?! She should be on her __**hands and knees **__thanking me for giving her the wasted time she's already had, and yet she has the temerity to actually threaten me?! _Precia thought. She was not a terribly stable woman under any circumstances, and this was the last straw. Before, it had been nothing but a game, really… it hadn't been a serious conflict, hadn't been _real. _She'd never once considered the possibility that Fate could actually _hurt _her. She would crush the little brat for being in her way, and that would be the end of it. But now, to be harmed by a person she had long ago written off as being less than human… to be _insulted _like this…

Precia raised her staff, and the sky went pitch black in a matter of seconds. The air hummed with power, arcs of violet lightning began to gather together into a concentrated mass of magic that made Fate's teeth shake. If that hit her and Arf, it went without saying they were both dead. All of Precia's considerable will and power were bent on this one task, with a mad, single-minded, terrifying fury.

Had Fate been fighting anyone else, she probably would have smiled slightly at the knowledge she was about to win.

"Sprite…" Fate said, swinging her blade in a ring around her, the Michildan circle appearing with the arc of the blade. "… _Zanbar!_"

The wave of lightning shot out of the circle, gold lightning melding with the field of violet and _absorbing_ it, as Fate's most powerful technique for dispelling blew away Precia's charging attack, the sudden loss of so much energy leaving the woman disoriented, confused… and extremely vulnerable.

As Fate charged the momentarily defenseless woman, Precia Testarossa began to consider, just for a second, that maybe this was her fault. No, that's an exaggeration… she didn't really _consider _it, at least not consciously. But deep down, almost subconsciously, she recognized that should have probably been a _little _nicer to Fate. Or really, even just paid a bit more attention to her combat style and mage training.

Precia managed to raise a single hand into the path of the gigantic energy blade, bringing up a shield with it. But the violet barrier was only partially formed, and the sword broke nearly completely through before stopping. Precia could _feel_ the energy from the weapon, even through her defenses. She fought back with all she could muster, absolutely refusing to be outmatched by such a simplistic trick, but her hastily-formed shield continued to crumble. _No… no! _She thought desperately, most of her capacity for higher thought gone by this point, replaced by a combination of rage and fear at the thought she might be brought low by such a basic trick as a simple dispel…

Fate continued to pour her power into the blade. Even as obviously unprepared as she had been, mother's shields were incredibly strong. If Precia were allowed to regain her composure and prepare herself, there was no way Fate would be able to stop her alone. She was nearly through… she just had to keep pushing…

Fate's world went briefly white, then red. She felt an intense pressure on her back, followed by a sensation of falling. No… not the sensation. She _was _falling, she could see her cape fluttering down with her, no longer attached and with a hole burned through it.

_What… what… _Fate managed to think. Something had hit her in the back when she was focused on Precia? That had to have been it.

She realized that, logically speaking, she shouldn't have been able to turn in time to see it… that she should have been falling far too quickly. But she still caught a glimpse of Yuuno, his eyes wide with horror… and Tsukuyomi, her staff leveled in Fate's direction.

_Ah. _Fate thought, her somewhat muddled thought processes accepting this. _Poor Yuuno. _It was really too bad for him… his opponent had turned and fired on Fate, and he hadn't seen it coming in time to stop her. He'd feel bad about this, and it wasn't really his fault… Fate knew she should have been watching her own back. She'd apologize to Yuuno later for making him worry.

Something warm and soft wrapped around her, stopping her descent. _Oh… Arf. That's not good, Arf is hurt. She shouldn't be moving. _Fate thought. "A…" she said.

Arf was trying to run. That was probably smart, but Fate didn't think she was going to make it… mother was pointing at them, and her hand was glowing and her eyes did not look at _all _sane. _I should warn Arf…_ Fate thought, but it was just so hard to keep her eyes open…

Then the world turned brilliant electric violet.

Then the world turned black.

* * *

Nanoha extended one hand, finally ready to try out the new technique she'd only just thought up.

The rock she was pointing her open palm at began to glow as her magic enfolded it, then leapt from the ground at bullet-speed in Amaterasu's direction. It sailed up from the ground like a guided missile, certain to do serious damage to anything it struck.

It was unfortunate for Nanoha, then, that it missed.

Badly.

Amaterasu didn't even really have to dodge; it just sort of went past her.

The older woman continued her charge, although her face shifted to an expression of mixed amusement and pity.

Nanoha very nearly growled in annoyance. The basic idea was that she wanted to wrap a solid object in her magic, using it to move that object at great speed and use it as a weapon that couldn't simply be dispelled. After all, even if the magical field vanished, it was still a big rock with a lot of inertia. And the principle was sound; a lot of her magic was just applications of force. It wasn't much different than juggling a can for shooting practice, just _lifting _instead of _hitting._ Unfortunately, it was proving a tad touchier than she'd expected. Just the perils of testing out a new spell in combat, she supposed.

_And to make things worse_, Nanoha thought as the spear slashed at her legs, not cutting _her _but dealing a grievous blow to the bottom two inches of her poor skirt, _it slowed me down enough for her to catch up! Again! _A half dozen small cuts were stinging on various parts of her body, a testament to the fact that she was slowly but surely getting her butt kicked. It was getting old… Amaterasu couldn't even use any spells. She was just good at stabbing. Even one usable attack magic could turn the tables, but the closest thing she'd found was too inaccurate to… be…

Of course. Did it really _need _to be accurate?

"Sorry Vita, but I'm stealing your move!" Nanoha said, willing a ball of pink light into her hand. Without any further preamble, rather than throwing it, she _smashed _Raising Heart into it as hard as she could.

The resulting explosion of light and sound, useless as an attack but great as a distraction, was not _quite _as good as Vita's 'Iron Howl'. But Nanoha liked to think that was just because she hadn't practiced it as much.

It wouldn't work for long… Nanoha seriously doubted she'd genuinely caught Amaterasu off-guard… but even closing your eyes and plugging your ears only helped so much against this sort of spell, so it would buy her a few seconds, at least. Nanoha dove for the ground, falling to her knees and slamming her open palm against the dirt. Her power flared, magic flowing out of her in intense waves, the ground beginning to crumble beneath her as her magic gathered around anything and everything hard enough to do damage buried beneath the soil.

There was an old saying: _Even the worst shot in the world will hit something if he fires enough bullets._

"Stardust…" Nanoha said, raising her staff above her head, the light that was permeating the cracked earth intensifying. "… _Fall!_"

When Amaterasu managed to clear the lights from her eyes and turn her gaze toward the ground… she found the ground a lot closer than it had used to be.

"Oh, my." Amaterasu said mildly. She began weaving through the hail, using the larger rocks as stepping stones and smashing the smaller ones out of her way. _Not a bad technique, certainly inventive, but not very efficient. If it were a little faster, or she could direct the rocks better, then maybe it would be a threat. But as things stand, it's just unnecessary landscaping._

It was then the she noticed the little girl's staff had changed; the golden section near the top had extended to make the device look almost like a spear of her own, and four energy wings had sprouted from the shaft. "Excellion Buster!" The girl shouted, her device loading three more of those cartridges.

Amaterasu frowned. _How many of those things does she have, anyway? Oh well, even if this attack is stronger, Exorcism form can cut it if it's just pure magic, so there's… _Halfway through that thought, she noticed something that made her much, much more worried.

Nanoha wasn't aiming at her.

Amaterasu thought of some of the massive boulders that had hurled past her, and considered vaguely that none of them had come _down _yet. She turned her head to see the rocks, still floating in the sky above the battlefield, glowing with the girl's magic. _She's… she couldn't… she __**wouldn't… **_If a high level attack magic hit one of the larger ones and exploded, and that created a chain reaction with the magic that was already wrapped around the boulders, and _all _of those rocks exploded… while they were above both of them…

_Oh, my. Unless I miss my guess, won't this rain magically imbued shards of rock over everything within about fifty kilometers? I wonder if I have time to switch modes, I really ought to set up a defense… if that would work... _Amaterasu thought numbly.

Out loud she asked, "Young lady, are you completely insane?" Considering the situation, her tone was surprisingly civil.

By way of reply, Nanoha said, "Break Shoot!"

Boom.

* * *

Chrono saw the lightning strike. He saw Fate and Arf falling. _No! I need to get past this guy and get there before…_

Susanoo sighed, lowered his weapon, and moved out of the way. "Hurry up."

Chrono _almost _protested, but he was on a clock anyway and he didn't have time to worry. Even if the other mage attacked him, he'd still be closer to Fate than he'd been before, so he took the offer and flew to intercept Fate's fall as quickly as he could. It was going to be close, but she'd been fairly high up, so he could still make it in time to catch… one of them.

Fate fell into his arms, but when he tried to catch Arf at the same time, he only managed to get a tenuous grip on one of her arms. His choices rapidly became 'Drop the familiar' or 'drop the sister' as he found himself balancing Fate on one arm. _Not good, not good… _He thought frantically, trying not to lose his grip on either girl while losing his grip on _both. _

Arf slipped from his fingers… and landed softly on a green circle not more than a meter below her. Yuuno flew in and slung her over his shoulder as best he could.

Chrono blinked. "How did you get away from her?"

Yuuno held a glowing green hand out behind himself, and a hail of silver bolts bounced harmlessly off it. "I didn't. But it's not like either of us could actually hurt each other…" Yuuno said.

Chrono shifted the unconscious girl so he was holding her with both arms. _She's ice cold… I need to get her back to the _Asura _ASAP._ "Fair enough. I'm thinking a tactical retreat might be in order."

"You're the boss." Yuuno agreed, and the two of them took flight as fast as they could, their concern for the velocity hurting the girls overshadowed by the concern that they had a painfully large distance to travel, and a barrier still in the way when they got there.

Tsukuyomi turned to Precia. "You have a lock?"

Precia, her composure not yet quite regained, merely nodded.

Susanoo shook his head. "Don't bother. They're retreating, so we should just let them go and get back to…"

"Fire when ready." Tsukuyomi said, cutting him off in mid-protest. "They're gathered together, so leaving no survivors should be simple."

As if to signal Precia's agreement, that white star appeared in front of the Colossus's 'eye' once again.

_Dammit… _Chrono thought, attempting to come up with some counter and drawing a painful blank. He seriously doubted Precia was the sort of person who would miss twice… she'd probably already prepared a firing solution that would catch them in the blast without catching her, or she'd fire a wider-angle beam they couldn't dodge easily… but if they stayed close enough to make that weapon useless, they'd most likely still be taken down trying to defend Fate and Arf. _Is there really no way out of this?! Think, Chrono, think!_

Yuuno flew towards the ground and set down Arf. Then he turned to face down the growing white light.

"What are you doing?!" Chrono said, stopping himself. "We can't just..."

"We're not going to outrun this. There aren't too many other options." Yuuno said somberly. "If I can stop this one attack, it should take another minute or so to recharge. Then we can…" Yuuno said, trailing off as if he realized how ludicrous the initial claim was. "They never reset the weapon to full power. Maybe I can take one shot."

"But…"

"_I am unbreakable._" Yuuno intoned, running his hands through a complicated pattern as he did so. "_Before me, let the territory of my soul be defined, and let all those who trespass within it be repelled. Let this place be moved beyond time and space, untouchable and unassailable. Absolute Defense, Materialize." _A shield, the largest Chrono had ever seen, glowing like a green sun, burst into brilliant existence in front of him. It was certainly very impressive, but… but…

Chrono cast a glance at what was left of the mountain that monstrosity had struck before.

"Dammit!" He growled, placing Fate on the ground next to Arf and raising his staff to project a defensive field around her, himself and Arf. Once that was complete, he did what little he could to strengthen Yuuno's shield… he wasn't much for enhancement magic, but it couldn't _hurt._ The fact of the matter was, they _weren't _going to make it by running away. If their only chance was to try holding back enough magic to crack open a moon, well, they might as well give it a shot. At least the crater would make an impressive grave.

"Are they insane?" Susanoo wondered. "They can't be trying to block it!"

"Pointless." Tsukuyomi agreed.

Precia didn't say anything.

In a burst of rainbow, the beam flew.

As before, the bolt of pure white ripped across the landscape until it encountered solid resistance. It struck the wall of green light, and was briefly repelled.

Very briefly.

Once the light had faded and the wind died down, Susanoo sighed, staring mournfully at where the opposition had used to be. "Not how I would have chosen to end this."

Tsukuyomi patted him on the shoulder. "I know. I would have preferred they simply leave us to our own device. But they refused, and we could not allow them to continue interfering…"

"Look, even beyond the fact they deserved better… I mean, half of them weren't even conscious. They were retreating. I understand that this was… _practical_… but it still leaves a bad taste in… my…" His voice trailed off as he stared at the smoking crater, the exposed bedrock still glowing red from the blast.

Except for the place where it was glowing green.

Susanoo grinned. "_Impossible!_"

Tsukuyomi blinked. "Unexpected."

Precia narrowed her eyes. "_Annoying._"

The ground was shattered, burning, and devastated from the beam's impact, but only up to a point. At this point, the path of destruction formed a **'Y'**, with two smaller trails going off to the sides, and a section of pristine ground untouched behind a flickering, crumbling wreck of a barrier. And behind this barrier, Yuuno stood on shaky legs, his one outstretched hand trembling and sweat running down his face in buckets.

"But that cannon is made for…" Susanoo said, his smile only getting bigger. "And he stopped it! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, kids these days are full of surprises!"

Chrono, who was equally shocked to find that he was alive, stared wide-eyed at Yuuno. "How did you manage that one?" He asked in some combination of confusion and awe.

Yuuno smiled. "I pulled a Chrono," He said, a line of blood running out of his ear. Then he passed out.

"… … …" Chrono said.

The machine's eye began to glow again. Precia said, "You were right about firing at 50%. It lets the weapon recharge much more quickly."

Susanoo turned to Precia in disbelief. "You _cannot _be serious."

"Deadly serious, if you'll pardon the expression."

"It was bad enough before, but they can't even run away anymore! If you think I'm just going to sit back and allow this, then…"

Tsukuyomi closed her eyes. "Do it, Precia."

"But…! Tsuku, come on! You were never exactly cuddly, but executing the wounded?! That's harsh even by your standards!"

She opened her eyes, and Susanoo saw something that he hadn't seen in centuries. Tsuku looked _sad_. "I take no particular satisfaction in this. I… the more I get to know these children..." She stopped and took a deep breath. "I don't _want _to do this. But you know as well as I that we absolutely cannot fail. Not again."

"Of course not, but we've already won! There's no need for it to go any further, we could…"

"We tried to avoid Bureau attention by avoiding casualties, they instead responded by sending an elite team. So we try the opposite approach. The loss of such an elite team should make the Bureau pull back, reassess the situation, and at least buy us some time."

"I still don't like this. It doesn't feel right." He said.

Tsukuyomi patted him on the shoulder. "If it helps, remember that Miss Precia and I made the call. You didn't make the call, you were just out-voted."

He reached his hand up to squeeze hers. "Thanks for trying, but that isn't much comfort." He said sadly. "… sorry, Fate. It was fun while it lasted."

Precia, in contrast to the somber expressions shared by the two siblings, was wearing a visible smile. Granted, it wasn't a terribly happy smile, and it was even less sane. Fate, that irritating familiar, and two of the little brats who'd ruined her plans, all at once? _This, _she admitted to herself, _Was more fulfilling than I would have thought. _

Chrono, near the place she was targeting, stood up.

There wasn't really anything else to do. Yuuno, Arf, and Fate were incapacitated. He couldn't possibly carry all three of them to safety… no, if he was being honest, he most likely couldn't escape even if he was the sort of person who would abandon them to flee on his own, which he was not. _This is it. We're dead. _He thought dully. _So I might as well go out on my feet._

It made sense to him, anyway.

* * *

Nanoha dug her way out of the rubble and came painfully to her feet. _I… may have overdone it a little bit…_ she admitted, looking around at the devastation. The landscape was riddled with craters of various sizes, and there were chunks of rock imbedded in most of them. The containment barrier was still up, although from the way it was flickering it had clearly seen better days and Nanoha expected she could probably just fly right through it.

Well. That had been quite a blast, then.

In her defense, she'd predicted the explosion would be roughly a quarter the size it had actually turned out to be… she was good at math, yes, but there's only so much you do in your head in the space of thirty seconds. She must have forgotten to carry a number somewhere. In any event, she'd gotten what she really wanted… a massive hail of stones wrapped in her magical energy. It had just been more massive than she'd planned.

The idea had been that her magic wrapped around the shrapnel would act to blunt the force, making the shards of rock no more lethal than the magical bolts she usually used. And given that Nanoha herself was still alive, she supposed that it had worked out to that, since even through the shields she'd raised, there had been rather more impact than she would have preferred. Amaterasu had been far closer to the source of the blast, and hadn't been in any position to raise a shield spell as quickly as Nanoha had been, so that was somewhat reassuring. Nanoha hadn't really wanted to _hurt _her, much less _kill _her. She was a bit… odd… but she didn't seem like a _bad_ person.

_And I should find her. She's probably buried somewhere around… _Nanoha thought to herself.

And then a green flash lit up the horizon, back where the battle had first begun over the ocean.

"… oh, no." Nanoha said, her stomach sinking. _She used my own attack as her distraction, released the Drive unit in the middle of all that chaos. _Nanoha thought in annoyance. She couldn't exactly be blamed… how could she have possibly spotted a tiny green dot in the middle of that maelstrom? But she didn't like losing, and she especially didn't like being deceived, so her temper was flaring despite her best efforts._ Well, that's two for them, whatever they want them for. I wonder if… no, Yuuno will know what to do about the Gate. I should focus on Amaterasu. I doubt she's still in any condition to put up a fight, but I should still be…_

For the second time, Nanoha found her thoughts interrupted. But this time, they were interrupted by an intense pain; a red-hot spike in the center of her back that sapped the strength from her limbs. Eyes wide in shock, she managed to turn her head partially to find Amaterasu behind her, and though she could only see the shaft, it wasn't hard to determine that the tip of Kagutsuchi was buried in her own back.

Amaterasu's face and body were smeared with blood, the bright red just barely visible against the darker hue of her barrier jacket. The outer layer of said barrier jacket, the coat, was gone; and the formfitting suit underneath it had been more or less shredded… but her injuries were impossibly superficial for what she had been through.

"No… no way…" Nanoha managed to gasp.

"That was a rather mad stunt." Amaterasu said, and her eyes were colder by far than Nanoha had seen them at any point in the battle. She plucked the spear from Nanoha's back and slashed it in a single smooth motion, sending the girl sprawling. "Kagutsuchi can't raise shields in Exorcism Form, so I had to detonate my barrier jacket to create a makeshift defense until I could switch forms. The costs were… significant." She said, wiping blood from her eyes and adjusting the remains of her barrier jacket so they wouldn't impede her motion. "My armor will take hours to repair, and almost a third of my magical energy was burned up. But I survived... and I couldn't have asked for a better distraction. With all that devastation, letting the drive unit execute and setting up an ambush weren't too difficult. But then, you've already noticed that."

Nanoha fought back the pain and tried to climb to her feet, but found her body wasn't listening to her mind. Raising Heart was _so close,_ but she simply couldn't cross those few inches.

"I probably nicked a nerve cluster. Although I suppose it could be simple blood loss, at this point." Amaterasu observed. "I don't know, I'm not a doctor. All I can tell you for sure is that I'm keeping the promise I made to you before.

"It will all be over soon." She said solemnly, and raised her weapon high above her head.

* * *

Four figures floated in the frozen skies of Dsyval, gazing at the barrier surrounding the battlefield.

"The transfer went well?" One of them asked.

"Yes. She should be to Nanoha in the next few seconds."

"Good. Now, we're already late, so let's get started ourselves. I'll pierce the barrier and take care of that ludicrous machine, but I'll need you all to handle the rest. The wounded are our first priority, so please keep them safe until we can get through to _Asura_. You all know your assignments?" When no questions were posed, she nodded. "Good. Admiral Lindy went to a lot of trouble and broke at least one law to bring us in on this, so let's repay her by making sure she still has all her children at the end of the day. Take your positions, I'm starting the counterattack!"

With that, the winged figure raised one hand and said, "Darkness of the night sky, gather to my hands. Spread your black wings and drown out the light, and let those who challenge my will be drawn into the endless nightmare beyond time and space.

"_Diabolic Emission!" _


	15. Clouds in the Night Sky

**Author's Note: ****I like to think that for it to truly be **_**Nanoha**_**, every character should, at least once in the story, do something that makes you think 'Oh, **_**hell**_** yes'. Even Yuuno? _Especially _Yuuno, poor guy got so screwed over after _A's _that we fanfic authors _owe _him this!**

**More seriously, I'm really glad the last chapter was so loved. I was afraid it wasn't _good _when I was writing it. Now I'm afraid of the fact that I have to try to _top it. _I hope I didn't just screw myself over and peak the story when it's not (if everything goes as I foresee) even really half done yet.**

**Author's Note 2: ****So here's my basic action sequence process. I write the scene, then read over it and think 'Hmmm, Character X didn't really do much, I should add some more for them'. Then I just keep on doing that, over and over, until the chapter is twice as long as I planned. Then I start noticing that certain dialogue is too OOC even for me, or that certain characters are behaving wrong, and I have to rewrite huge sections, which also end up longer than before  
**

**In case you couldn't get my _subtle code, _this was another chapter that kicked me in the face until I cried.  
**

**Chapter 14: Clouds in the Night Sky**

Amy looked at the readings on the console in front of her. More specifically, the readings which stated that both battlefields were now host to some very familiar individuals. Not familiar because she _knew _them all that well, familiar because, six months ago, she'd spent a great deal of time and effort trying to hunt most of them down. Her surprise was compounded by the fact that, as far she far as Amy knew, they were not cleared to even be away from HQ. Not even _real _HQ; no, they were supposed to be restricted to the ground forces HQ on Midchilda proper, where there was no chance of them blowing up a space station and they could potentially be bombed from orbit if they started acting up. They should have had a small army watching them at all times to make sure that they _weren't here_, and yet...

Amy's mouth opened. Then it closed. Then it opened again. At no point in this process did any words come out of it.

Lindy looked over her shoulder and nodded in satisfaction. "Oh, my. How unexpected. It seems that certain of our allies have arrived, totally of their own volition. How nice." Lindy said. Her tone was exactly the same as one might use to say something like 'Oh, what a shocking surprise... water is wet'.

"… Admiral?" Amy said.

"Yes?" Lindy asked.

"How, exactly, did you pull _this_ off?"

Admiral Lindy smiled the most innocent smile imaginable. "Pull what off?"

"... I miss Chrono." Amy muttered.

"Miss who?" Lindy said, mischief glittering in her eyes.

"Oh, now you're just being mean for the sake of being mean." Amy complained.

_**

* * *

**_

The enormous ball of darkness struck the barrier, which resisted its encroachment. For about two seconds.

While it lost a little bit of its power ripping through the alteration in space time, it wasn't enough to really be noticeable. Continuing implacably, the sphere continued towards its _real _target, the Colossus gathering energy to finish off the wounded Bureau force.

Precia got out of the way in time. The Colossus did not.

The resulting shockwaves scattered everyone in the skies, hurling the three airborne mages away from each other. Susanoo was the first to right himself, and looked at the entirely new explosion with a certain level of confusion. "Wow, we are just beating the tar out of this planet, aren't we? Now who exactly threw…" he began. He nearly finished the sentence when the sound of something slicing through the air caught his ear, and he snapped his weapon up to intercept a rapidly descending sword.

The pink-haired woman on the other end of the sword nodded once. "Good reflexes."

"Who the Hells are…"

"I apologize for the ambush. But you seem fairly strong, and I'm pressed for time." Signum said. "_Shiden Issen!_"

**"Explosion!**" The sword said, loading a cartridge and bursting into flames. Signum drew it back for a second strike, the fire along the blade violently exploding when it came into contact with Raijin and sending Susanoo plummeting to the ground. Signum, without missing a beat, pointed her weapon at Precia in a very clear-yet-nonverbal 'you're next'.

Precia raised an eyebrow. "You're a guardian of the Book of Darkness, aren't you? I read the reports from the _Vishnu _saying the Bureau had managed to tame you, but I didn't quite believe it. What happened, did somebody finally find a use for that ridiculous thing and you just came along for the ride?"

"A knight follows her master." Signum said.

"That's not as much of an explanation as you seem to think."

"Perhaps. But it's more than you deserve, and all you'll get from me." Signum said, dropping into a defensive stance, her blade at the ready.

Precia smirked slightly. "Shouldn't a 'knight' mind her surroundings a bit more?"

Signum's eyes widened as something disturbed the air behind her. She raised Laevatein in time to intercept a blow aimed for the side of her neck, and her guard was struck so hard she felt her teeth rattle.

The boy, who she could only assume was faster than he looked given how quickly he'd managed to get out of his fall and swoop behind her, smiled. His white trench-coat had been mostly burned off, leaving only the short-sleeved armor underneath it, but beyond some impressive new charring and the fact he was now receiving more air to his arms he didn't look particularly disturbed. "I apologize for the ambush, but you seem fairly strong." He said, his irreverent tone lending her own words a mocking quality.

Signum's eyes narrowed. "You're more talented than I gave you credit for. I can see why Testarossa has been having trouble with you." She said.

"Is that a problem?"

"Quite the contrary. If you can challenge her, then it's possible," Signum said, magic flaring to life around her, "That you could provide a momentary distraction to me."

"Ha! You know, I was in sort of a bad mood, but I think you're _just _what I need to cheer up."

* * *

Tsukuyomi moved to aid her brother, only to find a rapidly incoming fist approaching the side of her head. She caught the strike on her staff, and it flashed with silver light, hurling her backwards. She caught herself quickly, only to find a large, dark-skinned familiar standing firmly between her and where she was trying to go.

"The Bureau insects are coming out of the woodwork and beginning to swarm…" Tsukuyomi said, just the slightest hint of impatience in her tone. "I assume I cannot convince you to leave the area?"

"Our mistress has ordered us to stop you. Surrender and you will not be harmed." He replied. Apparently, he felt that was all the discussion the situation required, and Tsuku tended to agree.

She nodded once, raised her staff, and fired.

The silver-blue light met a silver-white barrier and broke like water on the rocks, and the familiar burst through the shield he himself had raised to launch a surprisingly strong kick at her face. She caught the blow before it landed, but was rather annoyed to discover that she was being forced back, despite her own not-inconsiderable physical strength… familiars _were _aggravating. Still, she had enough energy in reserve for one more battle, and despite their physical prowess, the average familiar was easier to deal with than a true mage.

More importantly, the fact that his leg was pressed against her device meant that it wasn't hard to point her staff directly at him while still holding him back.

**"Howling Moon." **Suijin said, in response to her silent command. Zafira, recognizing he was in a very bad spot, raised his free leg and kicked off the girl's weapon, sending himself straight upwards and knocking her off-balance. Her point-blank attack went wild, but still came a bit closer to him than he would have preferred simply by virtue of beginning its existence within six inches of his face.

He raised a glowing fist and punched the air, sending his own magical strike at her. He wasn't much for attack magic, preferring barriers and binds for his spell repertoire and simple physical assaults when on the offense, but perhaps he could take her by surprise. Still, he wasn't overly shocked when even a crudely formed shield from the girl stopped his attack cold.

She turned her gaze upwards, towards him. He dropped into a combat stance, both hands held in front of him. She, in turn, raised her weapon again. They stayed that way for a moment, each looking for any trace of weakness, and seeing nothing worth mentioning.

The next clash came a few seconds later.

* * *

Chrono, who had been fully prepared to die, fell to his knees in a combination of shock and relief. A soft hand touched his shoulder, and he turned to see Shamal smiling warmly at him.

"Hello, Chrono." She said.

"… hello." He said in reply, not really sure what else was appropriate. "So… what are you…?"

"Admiral Lindy had us waiting in reserve in case things went south. Apparently she needed reinforcements she could trust implicitly?"

_Okay, yeah, that makes sense. With everything going on, makes sense mom would want to have a backup plan that she could be absolutely sure wasn't corrupt. Whatever conspiracy we might have run into, the odds of **them** being part of it are precisely zero. In the future, maybe I should __believe__her when she says she 'has some surprises planned'? _Chrono thought. What he said out loud was, "Could you tell her not to cut it so close next time?"

Shamal giggled slightly and brought her hands together. "All this energy is disturbing transmissions, so it will take a little bit of time to get everyone out of here. In the meantime, I'm going to begin triage. Are you injured?

Chrono nodded. "Yeah, but it's mostly bruises and burns, a few minor lacerations. You can save me for last."

Shamal smiled. Klarer Wind leapt from her fingers, the gems tracing a triangle around the wounded, including Chrono. Instantly, the area within the traced shape began to glow, forming a pyramid of light around the fallen mages. Chrono felt the pain from his wounds begin to lessen within seconds. "As you can see, taking turns will not be necessary. You should be fine shortly. Yuuno needs a few days of rest more than any treatment, and Fate and Arf will need more intensive care than I can provide in the field, but I can keep them all stable for now."

"Thank you again. Now, if you'll…" He stopped in mid-sentence, turning to face Shamal with his eyes narrowed. "Wait… as much as I appreciate the assistance, aren't you all still on probation? Are you even allowed to _be _here?"

Shamal very carefully did not look him in the eyes. "I-I'm sure I don't know what you mean by that. We just happened to be passing through. Oh look, Fate is hurt! I'd better heal her!"

"You're already doing that."

"Why, so I am! Silly me, I must have just…"

"And if you're just 'passing through', then why did you specifically say that Admiral Lindy called you in?"

"I... I didn't."

"Yes. You did. It wasn't thirty seconds ago." Chrono said flatly.

"Um... I... well... we... um..." Shamal panicked.

"No... wait, I remember now! You're not on _probabation_, your trial isn't even over yet! You're not allowed to leave Midchilda, and I _know _that no officer is allowed to give you active field assignments yet! You're out on _bail_!"

"Um… technically speaking, most laws will forgive actions like this in the case of a life-threatening emergency. So… technically speaking… if we just _happened _to receive a message indicating Bureau personnel were in immediate danger, then… technically speaking…it would not actually be a violation of our terms of parole to offer them assistance if we were the first people the learn about the situation." Shamal said nervously.

Chrono sighed. "And I take it that my mother 'just happened' to 'vaguely suggest' that you should 'possibly' be in a position to observe 'totally random' channels for a transmission that she sent to 'nobody in particular'?"

"… I'm sure I don't know." Shamal said, but it would have been a pretty pathetic lie even if she hadn't instantly grown flushed from embarassment.

"So technically speaking, none of us have committed any crimes, but _realistically _speaking all of you could be sent to prison and my mother court-martialed."

Shamal continued to very carefully look anywhere but at Chrono. "No! No, of course… maybe." She admitted. "…really, our sentence is almost certainly just going to be an extended term of service in the Bureau military, isn't it? So by coming out here and helping we're really just... being proactive. They wouldn't get mad at us for that, surely?"

Chrono groaned. "Just… just get my bleeding stopped so I can get back out there." He grumbled. _Isn't the child supposed to give the mother grey hairs? Why is it always the other way around for me?_

* * *

Precia turned her eyes upward, to stare at the winged girl in the black and white barrier jacket. She had blonde hair and blue eyes (both seemed just a tad _off _to Precia, so she assumed them to be the result of some spell) and carried both a fairly unassuming staff… and a book that any mage worth the name would recognize instantly. "Ah. I don't recognize you, but that artifact you're carrying speaks for itself. How odd to find the Master of the Book of Darkness working with the Bureau. Unless you're merely here to devour the linker cores of everyone present? You could probably get quite a lot of pages, but I should warn you that filling that book has never turned out well for anyone who's tried it." she said.

Hayate narrowed her eyes. "My _name _is Hayate Yagami, though if you must use a title, I prefer 'Lord of the Night Sky'. And if we're talking about things that are odd, don't your official files state that you are _deceased_, Ms. Testarossa?"

Precia shrugged. "Actually, the last time I read it, it said 'Vanished: Status Unknown'. But you know how quickly rumors spread... fall into _one _dimensional rift and everyone assumes you're dead. Don't worry, too much about it, since I'm planning to prevent you from making the same mistake by giving you a very personal demonstration of what 'dead' looks like."

Hayate smiled. "Actually, I'll be taking you alive. But thank you for the offer."

Precia smiled slightly in return. "Clever." She said. She then snapped her fingers and, to Hayate's great dismay, the machine in the crater below her began to stir. "But then, since you stopped to tell me I was under arrest _before _making sure you'd actually broken my new toy, perhaps not _too _clever."

Hayate's stomach briefly fluttered as she realized she might be in trouble, but an answering burst of boundless confidence filled her entire being. _Don't worry; I'm with you, Meister. This is our first real battle since I was born, so I'll make extra special sure not to let you down! _The irrepressibly happy voice of Reinforce Zwei, the 'intelligent' part of her intelligent device, sounded through her head. _Now let's win, win, win!_

Hayate extended one hand to her side, and half-a-dozen brilliant white Belkan runes blazed in the air around her. _I never considered any other possibility. _

**

* * *

**

Nanoha was, admittedly, a little fuzzy. But she was pretty sure that the sound of a halberd blade cutting her head off shouldn't have made a big explosion. It _certainly _shouldn't have made reality quake as the already-flickering containment barrier was ripped to shreds. It definitely should not have made a 'clang', as if two metallic objects were being slammed together with great force.

As she watched Amaterasu retreat, it dawned on her that she was still alive. So all of that _wasn't _her head getting cut off then. That was good.

… Wait, so what _had _it been, then?

Amaterasu slid to a halt, kicking up a cloud of dust. She looked at the new arrival that had smashed aside her attack and sighed in annoyance. "It's never simple, is it… ah, what I wouldn't give for a hundred or so warships..."

The newly arrived girl ignored her, instead turning to Nanoha. "Geez, Takamachi. Here I am, missing the _real _fight, all because you needed somebody to come rescue you? You owe me one for this!" She said, her tone a friendly sort of angry. She set down between the other two mages, the large hammer she'd used to intercept Amaterasu's attack held back over her shoulder and an insolent smirk on her face.

Amaterasu smiled dryly. "What a charming young lady."

Vita just kept smirking in return. "Lady, you can't be much to write home about if your sense for magic is so bad you think _I'm _a 'young lady'."

"Ooooooh, so you're older than you look. Good, then I don't have to worry about my armor."

"What about your armor?" Vita said, seemingly confused by this turn of events.

"Well, look how torn up it is! I don't mind fighting without much protection, but let's face it, I'm going to be having a wardrobe malfunction every thirty seconds." Amaterasu said frankly. "Just because I have no morals doesn't mean I have no standards, you know… I don't mind showing off, but I wouldn't want some child to see that sort of thing! But someone who's actually older and only _looks_ like a cute little girl, that's okay."

Vita blinked a few times. "Um… Takamachi… is she serious?"

Nanoha, who was still more or less non-verbal, gave a single exasperated nod… and then winced, tears welling up in her eyes.

"OH! Oh, sorry, here you go." Vita said, a ball of green light appearing in her hands. She gently tossed the ball in Nanoha's general direction, where it burst into a small half-sphere that covered the fallen girl. Instantly Nanoha felt the pain from her wounds numb slightly. "Delayed spell, a little gift from a certain worry-wart Knight of the Lakes who shall go unnamed. It won't exactly fix you up, but it should keep you _alive _at least."

"Thanks, Vita…" Nanoha managed to choke out, beginning to stir. She wasn't exactly feeling good, but at least her mind had cleared somewhat. She put her hands beneath her in an effort to climb to her feet, and nearly managed to do it when…

Vita slapped her lightly on the back.

"AH!" Nanoha gasped as a wave of pain flooded her, stealing the strength from her limbs. "Wh-what was that for?!" She asked indignantly as she sprawled in the dirt again.

"What part of 'it won't exactly fix you up' did you not understand?" Vita asked dryly. "That spell was more like a bandage than genuine healing, dummy. It stopped the bleeding, but that doesn't mean you're in any condition to be walking around, so you just stay down there and wait patiently while I sort this out."

"But…" Nanoha began.

"If you try to help me fight, I'll knock you out myself! Better that than letting you reopen your wounds and having you die on me!" Vita snapped.

Nanoha, eyes wide, stopped trying to get up.

Amaterasu, eyes, equally wide, stared at Vita. "So… um… I sort of assumed, I'll admit, but you _are _her ally, right?"

Vita smirked and hefted Graf Eisen over her shoulder lazily. "I'm her _friend_."

"… you've got an odd way of showing it."

* * *

Hayate was not having a good time. She watched in extreme annoyance as the bolt of white light from her Hraesvelgr, which _should _have reduced anything it hit to scrap and blasted that Testarossa woman into unconsciousness through the shockwaves alone, was instead cancelled out and dispersed by a bolt of at _least _equal intensity from the war machine she was targeting.

Being matched in power was a new experience for her. She didn't like it.

The problem, she mused, was that she had never actually done this before. Her training thus far had been limited to only the few scant hours of practice she could work in between the endless legal proceedings and debriefings. And while she did have _some _combat experience, the fact was that in her first… and only… genuine battle, she'd been relying on Reinforce to do most of the heavy lifting in terms of spell-casting and aiming, while she provided the raw muscle. The effort had been hers, but Reinforce had been the one who knew how best to direct that effort to achieve the desired results.

Reinforce Zwei, however, was an infant. She couldn't even project a solid body for herself yet, and certainly didn't have the original's extensive spell library and centuries of experience. Granted, their union still gave Hayate _vastly_ enhanced accuracy and efficiency (Hayate had once attempted a basic TSAB trainee target shooting exercise without Rein. She had missed not only the target but the _entire shooting range_, punching through the containment barriers to strike and demolish a condemned building over two miles away. It was in this manner that she learned two things: first, that her aim sucked. Second, that the Bureau kept its training facilities far, far away from inhabited areas for an extremely good reason), but Rein's childish enthusiasm simply didn't have the same value as Reinforce's coolness under pressure and ability to more-or-less do anything.

And so Hayate had decided to do something with the Tome of the Night Sky that she would _never _have otherwise considered: use it like the Book of Darkness.

She had downloaded the majority of her own power into the pages; not her linker core, simply her magical stamina. This left her mostly drained, but with her spells now easily accessible as pages that could be burned through from the Book at will. Granted, since what she held was not truly the original Tome but a version that had been corrupted, purged and reformatted from the ground up, it didn't handle storage as well... the pages would fade away within fifteen minutes _if _she was lucky, and filling one of them took a good deal more power than simply casting the same spell herself. But despite the intense shortcomings, it also meant that her tremendously time-intensive attacks could be launched far more quickly than she could cast them herself. Combine this with Rein's unison to actually give her some ability to _aim_, and for the short time she could maintain such a strategy, she would be a force to be reckoned with.

An older, wiser Hayate, fully trained as a mage, would have disdained such tactics in favor of far more reliable abilities, she was sure. But for a young, untrained Hayate… trading most of her power for a brief window where she could actually manage her spells quickly enough to be _useful_ wasn't a horrible plan.

She just hadn't counted on finding anything with the raw power to _counter _said spells.

She slashed one hand through the air, and the white Belkan triangle above the battlefield turned a sickly shade of black. Another page of the Tome went blank, and a small storm of black lightning shot down from the tips of the rune… only to be intercepted by a volley of bright white spheres. The combat spells exploded violently on impact, each cancelled by the other… and leaving Hayate in the same rapidly diminishing position she'd been in before.

Precia smiled at her… or more specifically, at her book. "Interesting read?" she asked in a slightly mocking tone. She was very clearly holding back and letting her pet machine wear through Hayate's energy, and having a grand time doing it.

_I think she might have figured us out, Meister. _Rein offered.

_Yes, I am aware of that. _Hayate agreed, wracking her brain for some way out of this mess.

_Oh! Oh! Oh! I know! _Rein thought enthusiastically. _Let's… and you'll love this!... burn through __**all of our power at once **__to fire off one big cannon!_

… _Rein?_

_Yes, Meister?_

_Wouldn't the resulting explosion kill her? In fact, wouldn't it kill us as well, in addition to everyone else even remotely nearby?_

… _Okay, that wasn't a good plan. _Rein thought, her tone not noticeably becoming any less chipper. _But I'm sure I'll think of something!_

_Actually, your plan did have some merit. _Hayate replied. _It **is **time to stop playing nice. _

Raising her staff above her head, she burned through three of the remaining stored pages simultaneously, gathering so much power to herself that the resulting glow was difficult for even her to stare directly at. She slashed the staff downwards, and once again a Belkan sigil appeared in the above the machine.

And then another to its left.

And then another to its right.

Thus insuring that there was no possible way the machine's main cannon could deflect all of them.

Precia analyzed the situation and (after shrouding herself in her most powerful personal shield because she wasn't a moron) cast Hayate a glare of absolute malice. Hayate smiled sweetly in a response and waggled the fingers on her staff-hand to say 'bye bye'.

_Rein, if you don't mind? _Hayate thought, climbing higher into the sky to avoid getting caught in her own blast.

_Ready, set, **charge! **_Reinforce shouted with cheerful abandon, triggering all three spells.

Boom.

* * *

Susanoo fell back, raising his hand to a new gash on his chest. "Wow. You're… sort of more vicious than I've come to expect from the Bureau. Are you even pulling your punches at all?"

Signum flicked her sword once to get the blood off. "If I wasn't pulling my punches, you wouldn't be breathing. Our mistress has ordered us to take you alive, but that's the only leniency you'll get from me."

He sighed. "Ugh. You're way too much like my sisters. You say that you're not trying to kill me, but when your eyes are so cold, it's really hard to believe you."

Signum shrugged. "Laevateinn isn't really a weapon suited for holding back… and I'm not very good at it myself. It's possible my instincts took over when I saw an opening. I'll apologize now in case it happens again and I kill you by accident."

"HA! Yeah, sure. If your 'instinct' is to cut me in half, can you really call it an accident?" He asked dryly. "Still, I owe you for showing up when you did and saving those kids, so I guess it's all right. And at least I don't have to hold back against you. Being pushed to my limits hasn't happened in awhile, so it should be pretty interesting..."

Signum considered this for a moment. "Why do you assume," She began, "That I'll only be pushing you as far as 'your limits'?"

And then she vanished, disappearing from his vision in a blur of motion, the sudden burst of speed ending with her blade slashing from his unprotected side. She was, as per her orders, going to make the effort to bring him down non-lethally… but not gently. If she could disable one of his arms, his ability to use his weapon would be crippled and she could mop him up with relative ease. She needed to end this quickly and get to Hayate's side… Hayate was strong, but simple observation was enough for Signum to know that she was better suited to wide-range bombardment than small-scale battle. To make matters worse, both Hayate and the remnants of Reinforce that acted as the intellect of her weapon were amateurs at best. Her power was undeniable, but Signum did not place her chances in single combat against a capable opponent as being very high.

Besides, a Knight's proper place was between her master and danger. Even if Hayate had been an experienced veteran with a hundred battles under her belt, Signum still would have felt more comfortable acting as her shield… so it was time to deal with this obstacle and get to it.

His attack strength was considerable, but he was still slower than her and he seemed to rely on his natural armor and durability rather than any sort of defensive magic, so her sword should have no problem cutting if he couldn't get his blade into a blocking position…

And he couldn't swing the _blade _completely around in time. The handle was another matter. Her blade struck the bottom of his device, holding her in place until he could spin into a wide arc that she only blocked by freeing up one of her hands and bringing Laevateinn's sheathe into the path of the strike.

The sheathe began to glow as it prepared to deflect the axe.

Unfortunately, nobody had told the axe it was supposed to be deflected.

The sheathe didn't break, but it didn't completely stop the attack either. Signum felt the energy burn at her hands as the defensive effort didn't _quite _halt the incoming strike and she was sent flying in a manner that was not _nearly _as dignified as she would have preferred.

He continued his charge, coming at her straight on with the center of the axe's head. It wasn't exactly a 'conventional' attack to make with an axe, but Signum couldn't help but notice that the inner portion of the weapon still looked sharp enough to do some noticeable damage. She brought her sword and sheathe up together in a two-layered guard… and found herself being pushed backwards regardless of her defensive stance. He angled the charge downward… attempting to pin her between the ground and his weapon?

_Unacceptable. _Signum thought, and began to take steps to show her feelings on the subject.

Signum focused more of her power in Laevateinn and pushed back with all of her own considerable strength. Her backward motion abruptly halted as she planted her feet in midair and, she was willing to admit, took a second to relish the shocked look on her opponent's face.

"Did you think it would be so simple, brat?"

**"Schlangenform!" **Laevateinn shouted, the blade snapping out into its secondary form as a bladed whip. Eyes widening in surprise as the extending blade forced him backwards at a surprising rate, Susanoo swung his weapon in an effort to dislodge the snakelike weapon… only to watch with growing concern as it continued to move on its own, weaving through the air around him until long after it had grown far more than such a small sword physically _could _have, trapping him inside its ever-growing blade.

Oh, and then it burst into flame. He was slightly more concerned after that.

Signum pulled on the hilt of the whip-sword, drawing the trap closed. The holes in the 'net' shrunk to the point that escape was only possible by punching through a web made of burning razors. What made this such an effective technique for containment, of course, was the fact that there were very, very few people who could maintain their calm when trapped in such situation_. _They would either panic, or stop and try to think of a clever solution, neither of which was likely to get them out before the net closed. The 'correct' response was what Fate had done in a similar situation, thread an attack through the holes left by the blade; it wasn't easy, but with good reflexes and some calm under fire, it was a very valid counter. Beyond that, the only option was to try simply smashing their way out.

This was not to say that smashing out would be a _good _plan. The fact that any spell able to break out would be highly explosive meant that it was, in fact, a very _bad _plan, for both the person trapped and Signum herself. Luckily, she had not, in her previous experience, met a great many people willing to _explode themselves _in order to escape a movement restricting technique.

Susanoo drew back his weapon in a two-handed grip, and said, "Right then! Let's just smash our way out, Raijin!"

Signum considered this for a brief moment.

"Laevateinn, withdraw before-" She began. The explosion sort of drowned out the rest of the sentence.

It also drowned out most of Signum's reality for the next several seconds.

Signum blinked her eyes rapidly, attempting to bring her vision back into focus as Laevateinn withdrew back into a sword; she wasn't certain, but she thought she saw some metal fall off the blade as it returned to its base shape and hoped that it wasn't damaged. It might not be; her vision was, after all, blurred. She didn't _hear _her blade state it was injured, but that might have just been because her ears were ringing. She brushed her armor to get a few smoldering embers off her shoulder.

The boy, once the smoke cloud cleared, looked pretty much how she felt. The energy from the blast had mostly been moving _away _from him, she'd known, but he'd still blown himself up, after all. He shook his head a few times, checked all his limbs as if making sure he was still alive, and then began to make a strange sort of convulsion in his chest. He pressed one palm on his face and threw his head back, his mouth open wide. Signum had a pretty good idea of what he was doing then, and once her ears stopped ringing she was indeed rewarded by the sound of slightly maniacal laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, oh yes! That was _great! _Oh, man, every time I think that I can't be having any more fun, someone new pops up and... _wow! _Just _wow_!" He exulted. "Can I assume you've got more to offer? Because I've only just gotten started, and if you disappoint me now I'll never forgive you!"

And, for the first time in the course of the battle, Signum truly smiled.

"As a knight," She said, "It would be quite a blow to my pride if I couldn't meet your standards. Rest assured, this duel has barely even begun."

* * *

Vita was a little bit on fire, but beyond that, she felt things were going pretty well.

She was mature enough to admit that, under normal circumstances, she wasn't sure she'd be winning. If she had to guess, she'd say she had better offenses, but this lady was irritatingly hard to pin down. A big damn hammer was a wonderful thing to have, but it didn't help unless you could hit what you were aiming at. Fortunately, Takamachi had slowed this girl down enough that Vita could reliably do just that.

Granted, the lady was tougher than she looked, and holding up better than her appearance would suggest. She'd ditched the magic-cutting spear she'd been using on Takamachi for some kind of spell that made her normal device glow red-hot. Or at least it _looked _red-hot… in reality, it had to be a hell of a lot hotter since it had made Vita's dress catch on fire. It wasn't exactly burning quickly, but it told Vita she did _not _want to take a direct hit to her skin from anything that could ignite her Knight Armor, even this particular set (As much as she loved the armor Hayate had designed for her, she sometimes wished it didn't have quite so many frills. They looked fine, but damn if they didn't get caught on stuff or, y'know, catch on fire all the freakin' time. She'd give up the hat over her dead body, of course).

She brought her hammer smashing down on the lighter weapon, Graf Eisen glowing red itself where it came into contact with the spear. But Eisen was made of stern stuff, and a little heat wouldn't be melting him any time soon, meaning she could use her _favorite _strategy: 'hit it until it breaks'.

Amaterasu pressed back against the incoming hammer as best she could, the locked weapons striking up sparks and small fires igniting where metal touched metal. _Things are looking a little grim. I have enough stamina for one more battle, but my wounds are slowing me down and my armor isn't up to taking any big hits. Should I use my Final Drive? I hate to spend so much effort on these kids, but I could really use the firepower… _She sighed internally. _Also, whoever dressed her in that cute dress should be arrested for false advertising, because once you get to know her she isn't cute or elegant at __**all. **__I feel so __**cheated.**_

Deciding it was time to be sneaky, Amaterasu stopped resisting, allowing Vita's swing to add momentum to her own backwards retreat. Once a little bit of distance had been gained, she slashed her weapon in an arc and said, "Burn!"

"**Spark Rain!" **Kagutsuchi said obediently, the tip of the blade igniting the air as it slashed, releasing a wave of small fireballs; none of them were even the size of a person's fist, but they made this up with sheer numbers.

Vita, rather than pursue, produced a quartet of metal balls and struck them with her hammer, which snapped "**Schwalbe Fliegen****!"**

It was not, visibly, much of a contest; four bolts against at least thirty. But, as Amaterasu noted, when the four bolts could be _directed _and the thirty could not, it wasn't too terrible a matchup… Vita didn't even really have to dodge, just raise a shield and block a small portion of the attack. Amaterasu, on the other hand, suddenly found evasive maneuvers to be highly valuable to her continued health.

She slashed the first ball out of the air, but even her spear could only be in one place at a time. Running became the name of the game, with the remaining three bolts coming in rather closely behind her. Vita hovered in place behind her shield, directing the attack with one hand and not _quite _smirking but coming close enough for Amaterasu to recognize she was being silently mocked. _Ooooooh, you little… fine! I can't control thirty bullets, but I can __**damn well control five**__. _She thought darkly, gesturing with her free hand.

Five of the scattered fireballs changed their direction to strike at Vita from the rear. Shocked out of her defensive stance, her shield collapsed and her attack spell lost its momentum; the metal spheres lost their red glow and fell from the sky.

It was then that Amaterasu felt something strange. Her weapon was emitting as much ambient heat as always, so why did it seem like the world had suddenly become a much colder place?

Vita emerged from the flames, badly singed, and holding something in her hands. It was a strange, misshapen lump of ashes that looked like it had might once have been a small piece of cloth… maybe a pair of gloves, or a small article of clothing like that. _Is that something's head on the side there? _Amaterasu wondered. _What the… OH! The hat, that's right. Huh. Didn't think any of my shots got through, but looks like at least one made it. … Why is she looking at me like that? _She vaguely thought, wondering why, exactly, Vita's eyes had lost all trace of humanity and were gazing at her with all the pity and restraint of a hungry shark.

"Um… young lady? Are you quite all right?" Amaterasu asked, wondering if she had just made some sort of huge faux pas. Perhaps hats held some religious significance to this girl's people?

"_Graf… __**EISEN!**__" _Vita roared.

"**Gigantform!"**

"As she watched the gigantic hammer begin to swing in her direction, her only thought was a strangely calm, _Definitely held some religious significance. Should probably mention that to her majesty, could be important later._

* * *

Zafira took a brief glance in Signum's direction to make sure his commander was still alive. Her corner of the battlefield had gotten a great deal more hectic recently, and Zafira had the sneaking suspicion she'd started _enjoying herself_. It had been awhile since he'd seen Signum _really _have fun… generally speaking, when that happened she was a danger to herself and everyone in her immediate vicinity, so he knew better than to actually go over and _check _on her. Only a moron got between Signum and someone she was intent on fighting seriously.

Satisfied that Signum was still alive based solely on the fact that _someone _was still fighting _someone _and there were only two candidates, Zafira turned back to his opponent. The girl was putting up a commendable fight, but it was fairly clear that she was also on the verge of exhaustion. Her spells lacked the sharpness of just a few minutes prior, and she was visibly struggling for breath.

"Have you reconsidered your position? I will accept a surrender whenever you choose to offer it." He rumbled.

Tsukuyomi considered her options. _I'm more drained than I thought. I've been burning through energy too fast this entire battle, trying to keep up with multiple opponents… but I should have enough left if the enemy is just a familiar. _

"I will assume that is a refusal, then." Zafira said.

He came at her even faster than before, a glowing fist leading the way. She raised a barrier in time, but the impact was still notable. More to the point, he must have worked some sort of barrier-breaker into his attack, because while her shield didn't fall, it began to crack around the edges. Still it stopped him long enough for her purposes. Never one to turn down a good tactic, she borrowed one from him and stabbed her staff right through her own shield. He caught the tip of the weapon on his gauntlet easily enough, but then, the point had never been a physical attack…

The tip of her staff burst into silver light as she took a page from a different book of 'tactics' and used her brother's trick of releasing what was normally meant to be a ranged attack into the enemy at point-blank range. Susa enjoyed this tactic because his attacks tended to violently explode on impact and he could usually assume he was better able to take the blast than his enemy. Tsukuyomi, on the other hand, was able to use it because her spells _didn't _explode. The beam pushed the familiar backwards, burning away at his armor but remaining coherent as it drove him backwards. It was an effort to keep it from exploding the second it touched him, but it was worth it even if only for the breather it gained her.

A _brief _breather. This one was tenacious, and he had already slid off her beam with nothing more crippling than a shattered gauntlet. Perhaps… yes, it would cost a bit more energy than she'd have prepared, but compared to the power a slugging match would cost, it wasn't a horrible strategy. "Hide me, please…" she asked her device.

**"Lunatic Veil.**" Suijin obliged.

From nowhere, the mist spread, and Tsukuyomi let out an internal sigh of relief. Even if he saw through it eventually, like Takamachi, it would buy her a few free shots and a bit of time. She was… hmmmm… running on about a third of her beginning stamina. Not exactly critical condition quite yet, but approaching the point where conservation was starting to become a priority if she wanted to last out the battle.

She leveled her staff at the suddenly-concerned looking familiar, energy gathering in the gem. She should finish him in a single shot if possible, so she drifted closer and slightly to the side, to get a clear shot at the back of his neck…

And without ever looking at her, he rocketed perfectly in her direction.

Caught completely off-guard, she could only stare wide-eyed as a sudden crushing pressure filled her midsection (_he struck me, direct hit, at least three ribs shattered, damage significant_)and she was sent hurtling backwards through the sky. She 'fell' to her 'knees', at least as much as anyone could while in midair, and wiped blood from her mouth in open shock. Her illusionary mist dissolved with the sudden loss of concentration.

Zafira looked in her direction and shrugged. "You had my eyes and ears fooled, but even a wolf Guardian Beast is still a wolf. Unless your illusion can deceive my nose, it's useless." He held his hands out, and pillars of white light, barriers to restrict motion, sprung into existence around her. "You fought valiantly, but this is where it ends."

"… … ah…" Tsukuyomi sighed, then winced as even this slight motion aggravated her broken ribs. _Tracking by scent? That should have occurred to me. Familiars __**are **__annoying._

_Big brother, I don't mean to interrupt, but a certain level of aid would be appreciated…_

* * *

You couldn't really call it a fight anymore. 'Fights' have a certain level of elegance and skill. Things like tactics are involved.

This was a _brawl._

Neither Signum nor Susanoo was pursuing anything resembling a strategy. The occasional blast of fire or lightning lit up the sky, but for the most part the battle had devolved into an effort to hack each other to pieces. Both of them looked like they should be in a hospital instead of on the battlefield, but neither showed any signs of stopping. The banter that the boy had insisted on pursuing was abandoned to the sound of metal against metal and… occasionally… metal against flesh. It was nothing more nor less than a brutal fight for survival, with no holds barred on either side.

In spite of this… or rather, _because _of this… both of them appeared to be having the time of their lives.

The two warriors fell back briefly, gasping for air and wondering if they were bleeding badly enough that they'd die if they didn't stop to staunch it. Granted, neither was exactly _human _and so their 'blood' was more for show than genuine use, but it still wasn't good to lose _all _of it.

"Ha… ha… ha…" Susanoo panted. "You're very impressive. I'm having… a _great _time."

"Likewise." Signum agreed.

"May I have your name, lady knight?"

"Signum, of the Wolkenritter. You already know Laevateinn."

He didn't bow for fear she'd strike while his eyes were averted, but he inclined his head in a show of respect. "Susanoo, a guardian god of the Twilight Palace."

"God?"

"It's not a title I ever asked for, but you know how these things work. Live for a few hundred years, have a lot of power, win battles all the time... after awhile of that, people start calling you all kinds of things." Susanoo said, shrugging as best he could with his shoulders lacerated.

Signum smiled wryly. "I can relate. Although in my case, I was more commonly referred to as 'demon', 'monster', 'murderer'…"

"Oh. Guess I had a more forgiving audience."

"**Introduce me too!"**

"This is Raijin. You can mostly ignore her. She's a brat." He said.

"_**Hey!**__"_

"Well, in any event, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Signum."

"Likewise, I suppose… though I wish it had been under different circumstances."

"Agreed. I'd love a rematch, no matter which of us wins… but at this rate only one of us is going to come out of this alive."

Signum smiled slightly. "Surrender and let me take you in peacefully, and I'll happily schedule a rematch whenever you want."

"HA! If I made you the same offer would _you _take it?" He asked, his own smirk widening towards a genuine smile. Without even waiting for the obvious answer, he lifted his blade and dropped into a stance to charge. "Are you up for a bit more, Raijin?"

"**Cut her down!" **

Signum nodded and did likewise. "Laevateinn?"

"**Jawohl!"**

And then, just as the fun was really about to continue, Susanoo's eyes widened and his smile utterly vanished as events on a different battlefield came to his attention.

There are several sorts of 'big brother'; the cold and aloof type, the affectionate kind, the ones that acted more like a parent than a sibling, and so on. Susanoo, personally, was of the school of thought which stated 'Big bro is big so he can protect the ones who are born after him'. He tried to give Tsuku her independence, of course… she was roughly 1,800 years old, and could safely be called a 'big girl'. But, on the off chance she ran into something she couldn't quite handle, well…

He turned, and began to rush to Tsuku's aid, his opponent completely forgotten. _Hang on! I'm on my way, just hold on for a few seconds! _He sent to Tsukuyomi, desperation tingeing his psychic voice. He didn't make it very far before Signum interceded herself between him and where he was trying to reach, her weapon at the ready.

"_Get out of my way!_" He roared, his weapon bursting to life. He was fully prepared to simply smash his way through with main strength and deal with the consequences later, but despite his efforts Signum matched and repelled him. _No! I don't have time for this! _

"Please, I don't have time for this right now… my little sister, she's…" He began. In his mind, it was only natural that she would let him past if she understood the situation. He himself had let Chrono past him without a fight when Fate had gotten hurt, hadn't he? It was a big bro's job to protect his baby sister whenever and wherever she needed him. Stopping him from doing that job was just _wrong_; while he had his doubts as to the morality of some of the actions he'd found himself and his siblings taking recently, that much he knew for sure_. _Some things were just _evil_.

Signum's eyes did soften, but her words made his stomach sink. "For what it's worth, I truly apologize. I can guarantee that Zafira will not kill that girl, but I also can't allow you to aid her."

"But… look, I'm sure you're not lying to me, but accidents still happen! We've already lost so much, and I can't... I won't lose my family too! _Please_, I'm begging you… I swear I won't hurt your friend, I _swear _it! I just have to help her!"

"… I'm sorry." Signum said again, raising her blade.

"I… I see." He said, his eyes growing very cold. "In that case, I'm sorry too. Raijin, load up a long range assault, full power, maximum spread."

**"Storm Shatter, stand by!" **His device said agreeably.

Signum blinked once in confusion. The pressure of the magic he was gathering was immense, but what was the point of telegraphing his attack to that degree? If she saw it coming so far in advance with nothing to keep her in this spot, she could dodge it easily. It didn't matter if it was a strong spell if it didn't connect…

"Just so you know, I'm not playing here. This spell will have a truly lethal amount of energy behind it. Your armor is very good, so you might be able to take a direct hit, but I wouldn't bet on it. I really am sorry about this, but if my family is in trouble, even I can be a bit cold hearted." He said. He swung his weapon and released the massive wave of energy… but not at Signum.

It took her slightly less than a second to recognize to her horror that he had spun upon swinging, and his attack had actually been aimed far across the sky… directly at Hayate.

* * *

Amaterasu felt the wind from the hammer as it missed her by scant inches and tore a new crater in the rapidly diminishing landscape.

"In the name of every god there ever was, _the hat will grow back!_" She snapped in something vaguely like desperation.

"_It's the principle of the thing!_" Vita roared.

Nanoha, still lying on the ground, watched the battle with a slightly depressed expression. _What does it say about our relationship that she's angrier about the hat being broken than **me **being broken? _She thought glumly.

There was no question of 'defense' in Amaterasu's mind. Susa could have blocked this hammer by matching the strength of the attack, and if she were at her best she could have… possibly… managed a similar feat. But as things stood, she didn't have a prayer. A hit meant defeat, so all she could do was dodge.

Luckily, the hammer was pretty slow.

Unluckily, the hammer was _really big. _

And even more unluckily, she was getting distracted by a bad feeling about the others. It had never been adequately explained whether it was intentional or they'd just developed the ability on their own, but no matter how far apart they were, they always had at least a vague idea of what the others were doing. 'Tsuku is hungry' or 'Susa is in a good mood', that sort of thing. And currently, that tiny awareness was telling her 'Tsuku is in trouble and Susa is getting desperate, so get to them _right now_'.

_Right then. No choice. I'll just have to go all-out and end this quickly…_

"Give me wings, Kagutsuchi!" She commanded.

"**Flash Step."**

The blue-haired woman burst into a blur as the spell took effect, gaining the distance she needed. "All right! Give me every last bit of power you've got, a full ignition! Let's… do… this?" She said, her voice falling into confusion as she noted a shadow overhead.

She looked up, and realized that as large as Vita's hammer had been... until now, it had not been _nearly _as large as it could have been.

"_Gigant.... CRUSHER!" _Vita roared.

Now considerably larger than both of the actual combatants put together, the monstrous weapon descended. There was not a whole lot Amaterasu could do but place her own (woefully small, it seemed) device into its path, put all her power into a barrier, and pray. _This is really going to hurt, isn't it? _She thought glumly.

Whatever a goddess prayed to was apparently not listening, she couldn't help but notice as she began moving very quickly toward the ground. _Oh, Hells. _She thought. "Kagutsuchi, complete drive ignition, before..." she said. She very nearly managed to finish the sentence before impact, as the impossibly large hammer smashed her into the ground with enough force to split it.

Nanoha looked on, eyes wide, as the hammer smashed into the ground with brutal force, the blue haired woman beneath it. _Wow. Vita… wasn't that a bit harsh? I know you like the hat, but…_

_Shut up. _Vita thought.

_Eh?!_

_Don't distract me. _Vita thought bluntly, looking at the head of her own weapon, buried in the rocks. _She's not done yet. _

_But… _Nanoha began, before cutting herself off in mid-thought as she noticed something that convinced her that Vita was right. Specifically… the ambient temperature in the area had just jumped. Significantly.

A jet of flame exploded from the shattered earth beneath the hammer, prompting Vita to draw the weapon back and drop into a ready stance.

Amaterasu stepped from the crater. Her barrier jacket had not grown back so much as _changed _into an entirely different jacket, a suit of red plate with a golden flame image on the breastplate and 'wings' of red energy sprouting from her elbows and ankles. The blade of her spear had grown considerably, branching out into a jagged trident that looked more like it was intended for _tearing _someone than cutting or stabbing.

"**Fire Empress form, set-up confirmed.**" Kagutsuchi said.

Vita smirked. _Told ya. _She thought. _Well, at least she's not hiding anything from me anymore._

Amaterasu opened her eyes, and the look in them could not possibly have been colder. "I'd apologize about the hat... but I don't really see the point. You're not going to have a head for much longer, after all."


	16. On the Path to Twilight

**Author's Note: Sooooo, turns out that I kind of screwed up Hayate's devices last time. N****ot only their functions but even **_**the type of device they are**_**. On the function issue, I have the defense of 'Hayate should get at least **_**one **_**decent scene, which is hard because she's **_**really **_**tough to write'. Seriously, the nature of her powers mean that generally speaking, any and all fights she's in should be utter curbstompings, the only difference being whether she's the stomper or the stomped.**

**So I have the 'rule of cool' defense for the function issue, and a wonderful defense it is. ****But I really have no excuse for not knowing the, you know, _names_. Rein is a unison device, the book (which, as far as I can find from the internet really _is _called the Tome of the Night Sky, so I at least got a little bit right) is a storage device, the Schwertkreutz staff is an armed device. So one I got completely correct, one I got the name right but not the way it is used, and one I... didn't even really acknowledge. One out of three is _not good_. **

**Just what I get for focusing on the anime, y'know? Ah, well… I hunted down a glossary of terms, I've re-read the manga, and now I guess it's time to find a translated script for the Sound Stages. It'll give me something to do when I'm procrastinating on the next chapter... ****Kidding! Just kidding! Put down those rocks, please! I'll try not to let it take another month, I swear! I'm just lazy and prone to writer's block!**

**Chapter 15: On the Path to Twilight**

Hayate looked down at the rising smoke and nodded in satisfaction at a job well done. _Right then. You __**can't **__tell me __**that **__didn't hurt, you toaster with delusions of grandeur. _She thought.

_That. Was. Great. __**We **__are great! We're the absolute best! _Rein cheered. _She was all 'Bwahahaha, I am evil!' and then we were like 'ka-boom!' and she was like 'aaaaaaaah!' We win, we win!_

Hayate grinned at the sheer exuberance of it, but restricted her actual thoughts to _Don't get__** too **__excited, our Knights are still in danger__**. **__Although yes, I'd agree that this was quite an excellent victory_.

You'd really have thought that by now, a couple of smart girls like them would have learned not to tempt fate.

As she caught the growing illumination out of the corner of her eye, she turned to see the wave of azure lightning roaring towards her. _Not good_. She thought, but really it wasn't _that _not good. It wasn't very fast, so she could probably just dodge it. Even if she couldn't, one of her stored spells would probably be able to counter, and…

Her hair began to stand on end. The smell of ozone assaulted her nostrils as tiny crackles of violet electricity snapped through the air around her. She turned _again_, to find Precia Testarossa emerging from the smoke, more or less unharmed. A thin line of blood was running from her nose and her hair looked a bit singed, but the pressure of her magic had not noticeably decreased in power, and given that lightning was arcing between her staff and outstretched hand and she was looking at Hayate as though she was some sort of repulsive insect that needed stomping, Hayate was willing to guess that she probably wasn't in a good mood.

_Really not good! _Hayate thought, but she could probably still come up with a way out of this. She threw her mind into her next spells, calling up something that could deal with threats from two directions at once without blowing herself up. She could _do _this, she knew it…

The sound of motors whirring filled the air as something mechanical stirred below her. The Colossus, sparks flying from the joints of one leg that was not moving in sync with the others, nonetheless stood up. And its eye started to glow.

_**Really not good**__! _Hayate thought.

And then a violet chain wrapped around her ankles as Precia's binding spell took hold, trapping her in the path of… well, of _everything_.

_Oh, now this is just getting stupid_. Hayate thought. Honestly, if _one more _thing went wrong in rapid succession, she'd start to genuinely become convinced this was all some sort of strange dream…

**"Panzer Geist!**" a mechanical voice said, and a magenta comet interjected itself between the lightning and Hayate.

Hayate's eyes widened as the blast impacted against a body and sword limned in a defensive aura, the conflicting spells _screaming _as Susanoo's attack spell attempted to rip through Signum and was met with staunch resistance.

_S-signum?! _Hayate thought in something between shock and terror. To start, she hadn't thought Signum fast enough to get to her in time, but more to the point… her Knight's commander was strong, yes, but a direct hit from a spell of that magnitude...

_What are you doing?! Get out of the way before- _Hayate snapped mentally.

_You have other things to worry about! _Signum interrupted, her psychic voice thick with strain. Her defensive aura was beginning to dim, and the wave of light was showing no signs of halting in its pressure against her, but this was the only way she could be certain of Hayate's safety. With such a huge, diffuse mass of energy, even if she'd managed to scatter it with one of her own offensive spells she couldn't have been certain that a lethal dose wouldn't still reach her master. This way, she could be _very _certain.

The only question was whether she would be certain _and _alive. Her shields were gone, and now Laevateinn's sheathe, the next line of defense, was beginning to shake…

Her next line of _defense?_

No, no that wouldn't do. A knight did _not _let an enemy set the course of battle.

"_Laevateinn_!" She growled. She whipped the cracking sheathe out of the line of fire and more _slammed _than slashed her sword into the wall of energy, beginning her counteroffensive. Flame ran along the length of the blade, melding and clashing with the energy of the enormous spell she was holding back with a single sword and sheer force of will.

But judging by the screaming in the air as the competing magics collided, she would not be holding it back for too long. Not because she was growing tired or in any way planning to give up, but because judging by the way the conflicting energies were starting to get more violent, there shortly would be nothing to hold back… and not in the good way.

_This is going to be uncomfortable. _She thought, just before the explosion.

* * *

"Sorry…" Susanoo whispered under his breath as the blast lit up the sky behind him. The lady might not have won any points for standing between him and his sister, but he'd truly wanted to pursue their match to its conclusion, and he hadn't liked launching a lethal spell in the direction of someone he'd never even spoken to. To make matters worse, Ms. Signum was clearly a guardian right after his own heart; he wouldn't have known which person to target if she hadn't subtly, probably even subconsciously glanced toward that _particular _direction every few seconds, risking her own safety in order to keep watch over her mistress. She was a true knight, and casting aside their duel in such a manner stung quite a bit.

Still, family came first.

_There_. He thought, as the target became distinguishable from the spells that were still hovering in the air around him. He fought to keep the red haze of fury out of his mind when he saw Tsukuyomi wounded and trapped… she was still alive, and it really wasn't right to get angry at an enemy soldier just for doing his duty unless he'd done something really horrible. _Keep in mind that she's not __**his **__family. If I were in his position, I wouldn't have done anything differently. _

Nope, no good… the thought didn't calm him very much at all. Familial over-protectiveness is rarely a logical emotion.

The axe descended, striking the guardian beast's shield and digging in, cracks visibly appearing. Rather than wait for his barrier to be broken, Zafira instead lashed out, grabbing the shaft of the device to hold it still and sending his free fist directly toward the boy's face.

He caught it.

Zafira, eyes wide, pressed forward, only to be met with equal pressure in return as Susanoo leaned forward, his face set in a snarl. "Get. Out. Of. My. _WAY!_"

Zafira wasn't entirely sure what happened… one second he was in a deadlock, the next there was an explosion of blue light and he was falling backwards with smoke curling from the arm that had been clamped on the boy's weapon. When he managed to right himself, Susanoo had already smashed through his bindings around the girl and positioned himself between her and Zafira.

"Are you all right, Tsuku? Can you move on your own? If you need to retreat, I'll cover you, so…"

"I've taken some damage, but I should be fine with a few minutes to devote to self-repair." Tsukuyomi said reassuringly. She then winced. "Perhaps more than a few. But still, I'd say you look worse than I do…"

"Eh? Oh! Yeah, I met a fun girl." He said, apparently considering that to be sufficient explanation for the blood and burns. And really, for him, it kind of was. "But don't worry about me, you're more important. I'll take care of this guy, so you just relax, all right? You're too important to lose."

"Miss Precia could take my role, if such became necessary. The mission wouldn't be completely lost if I…"

"Not that, dummy! I realize the competition isn't exactly steep, but you're my favorite sister, okay? If I lost you, I don't know what I'd do."

Tsukuyomi did not quite blush. "S-stop that. You're starting to sound like big sister…"

"... _Never say that again._" He said solemnly, a look of mingled embarrassment and disgust on his face. Leaving her to her self-administered first aid, he turned and brandished his weapon at Zafira. "Now… ordinarily I like to handle introductions, chat a bit, that sort of thing, but… well, our situation is getting a bit desperate, and _you hurt my sister_. If I defeat you, I won't execute you when you're helpless. Beyond that, I promise nothing. You have a problem with that?"

Zafira chose to respond to this in the manner which, to him, seemed most obvious… he gathered his power, snarled deep in his throat, and in short order a gigantic blue-gray wolf stood where the dark-skinned man had been.

"_Good_." Susanoo said, his own voice pretty close to a growl itself.

* * *

Nanoha pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. _Good. Good. I've made it this far and I'm not even dizzy. It hurts, but I'm not disoriented. _That was good, in her eyes… pain could be fought through, but dizziness was a killer. There was only so much you could do when the problem was that the world wouldn't stop spinning around you. _So if I know I can fight through it, all I have to do is actually fight through it. No problem. I'll be back to my feet in no time._

It was, realistically, the only option, at least in her eyes. She had a few reasonably bad cuts, one very bad puncture wound, and some bruises. And that was _it._ She was a girl who'd had her linker core ripped out and partially eaten, one spear in the back was practically _nothing_. And really, the worst of it wasn't even bleeding anymore. She still had plenty of magical energy in reserve and Raising Heart wasn't even slightly damaged. Sure, high-speed combat might be out of her reach just this moment, but the main battle had moved far enough away that all she could see was two red streaks slamming into each other. At this distance, it wouldn't be too hard for her to act as a mid-range sniper and give Vita some support fire.

_I was __**absolutely serious**__ about knocking you out if you don't stay down! I got my eye on you! _Vita's psychic voice said firmly in her head.

Nanoha's eyes widened. _How… how did she know I was standing up? _She wondered. The two combatants were, as previously mentioned, so far away they seemed to be only streaks of light, and furthermore were engaged in high-level magical combat at most-likely lethal intensity… and Vita had _noticed her?!_

Vita chose not to share the fact that she'd simply _assumed _Nanoha would be trying to stand up and get back into the fight by this point, and had yelled at her as a preemptive measure. The kid just didn't know when to quit… and yes, the irony of _Vita _accusing someone else of _trying too hard _was quite lost on the Iron Hammer Knight. Not because she had no sense of irony, just because someone was trying to murder her.

The spear slashed through the air, trailing a tail of flame that seemed to ignite whenever the tip moved more than an inch at a time and exploding in a shower of sparks upon contact with Graf Eisen. Vita wasn't the sort to be worried by the appearance of a weapon, but she _was _a little concerned by the fact that it gave Amaterasu much more of a punch than she'd had before. The spear had always seemed to release its own ambient heat, but now it was actively _on fire_ almost all the time, most likely some kind of permanent enhancement spell, and a pretty nasty one at that. Graf Eisen's external shell was glowing white-hot, and while the hammer wasn't complaining Vita was starting to worry that was just because it was extremely stubborn piece of machinery (and once again, the irony of _her_ accusing _someone else_ of being _too stubborn_ was utterly lost on her). Whereas before the other woman had been mostly dodging or slightly deflecting her strikes, Amaterasu was now meeting every attack head-on and not displaying any significant strain from doing so.

More alarming, however, was the woman's attitude. She wasn't talking, or flirting, or just generally being creepy like before, in favor of being creepier in a completely different way. There wasn't the slightest hint of empathy, humanity, or even really _recognition_ in her eyes. Vita was a thing, that thing was in the way, it would be moved _out _of the way by any means necessary. Vita supposed that most people would have been disturbed by it, but she herself was more put-off than most simply due to the fact that the look in the woman's eyes and the general _feel _she was giving off were almost painfully familiar.

More specifically, it reminded Vita a bit of Signum.

Not Signum as she was now, but rather what Signum had _used _to be like, back before Hayate; pitiless, remorseless, ice-cold and razor-sharp. On one level it was sort of nostalgic, but on another, far more immediate level it made Vita mildly concerned that only the people who were really, really good at killing could pull off an aura like that.

Well, that was just fine. It just so happened that Vita was pretty good at not getting killed.

Once again, she prepared a silver ball to be used as a bullet, but this time it grew to a size fitting Gigantform. "**Kometen Fliegen!" **The hammer said as Vita swung it around and sent the missile roaring out.

Amaterasu looked fantastically unconcerned. "If you don't mind, Kagutsuchi?"

"**Corona Razor." **The spear said, the entire length of the weapon taking on a blue aura, which continued to grow until Amaterasu appeared to be holding onto not so much a 'spear' as a column of blue fire. She then, against all logic, transferred the fire to her free hand and proceeded to throw it like a javelin, the azure missile colliding with Vita's own spell and the two attacks quite handily wiping each other out of existence.

Vita wasn't exactly _enthused _by this display, but the Kometen Fliegen had been more of a diversion, really. Had it impacted and done damage, that would have been wonderful… but its destruction made a handy smoke screen in any case. The red knight burst through the visual shield, her weapon already swinging in a wide arc.

Unfortunately, a smokescreen worked both ways. If Vita was not enthusiastic about her attack spell being countered, she was even _less _enthusiastic to discover that Amaterasu had charged forward at the same time she had and was already inside the radius of her swing, and that damn spear was leading the way.

There was absolute no way that she'd be landing a solid hit; the woman was too close, even if she swung she'd just be smacking her with Eisen's shaft and all _that _would accomplish would be to give her a minor bruise… and immobilize Graf Eisen while an enemy was in easy striking distance. She dodged back instead, continuing the swing anyway in an effort to keep her assailant from advancing.

The woman drew her legs up, used the head of the hammer as a stepping stone… _while it was swinging_… and brought the spear slashing in.

Vita fell back, clutching the gash in her side, and Amaterasu did not pursue. The Iron Hammer Knight smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly. _Well… she's quicker than before, at least. And that spear has definitely got more stopping power if it can cut my armor so easily. At least I didn't get impaled… still, this might end up being a problem._

The blue-haired woman said, "Your abilities really aren't bad, but your strategy could use a little work. 'Run up and smash' has its merits, but if that sort of thing really worked on me then maybe my baby brother would have actually _won _a few of our sparring matches."

"Don't worry, I've got plenty of tricks up my sleeve. All I was doin' there was finding out what you're _really _capable of."

"Oh?" Amaterasu said. And then there was a blur of motion and she was simply _gone_.

Vita's eyes widened, and she moved on pure instinct. There was no time for anything less if she didn't want to end up with several brand new holes in her. She spun in place, hammer fully extended in a wide horizontal arc. She hadn't seen much, but there wasn't any upward motion, so her best bet was to take up as much of a flat plane behind herself as she possibly could and hope that.

She was rewarded by the sound of metal on metal and an intense pressure on her arms as the two weapons locked. Amaterasu's face, painfully near her own, had a small smirk on it as she continued to press forward, pushing in close enough to make it difficult for Vita to even get a swing off.

"I made a eighteen-hundred year career out of destroying people like you. Don't assume I've shown you what I'm really capable of just yet, little brat."

_Okay, _Vita thought, _so she's __**much **__quicker than she was before. _

And, outside the range of vision of either of the two knights, Nanoha Takamachi got to her feet.

_

* * *

_

_Lady Signum! Meister, we have to- _Rein began, her psychic voice shrill with concern as she and Hayate stared at the aftermath of the blast. The littlest member of her retinue looked upon the Wolkenritter as family just as much as Hayate herself did, and her fear for Signum was obvious.

_Focus, Rein! I'm worried too, but we have problems of our own! _Hayate ordered. With an effort, Hayate tore her eyes away from where she'd last seen the commander of her Knights. As Signum had pointed out, she really _did _have some fairly serious problems to deal with at the moment. _Signum can take care of herself better than anyone. She'll… she's alive. I __**know **__it. But we won't be if we don't focus on the problem in front of us!_

_B-but… yes. Yes, of course, my lady. _Rein said resolutely.

_First, I need my mobility back __**yesterday. **__Can you arrange it?_

_I laugh at binding spells! _Reinforce thought confidently. Hayate felt more than saw the surge of energy… it wasn't a terribly elegant solution, but Rein took hold of their shared magic and shoved raw power into the pattern of the binding, breaking it through main strength. Again, not terribly elegant, but quick and effective; the binding around her legs shattered like glass in an instant.

_All right, we're free! What's next? That was too easy! _Rein thought humbly.

_Well, next we really ought to deal with either the madwoman or the robot before they broil us. Luckily, I have a thought on that subject. _Hayate replied calmly.

Then, in direct opposition to every (limited) tactic she knew and every instinct she possessed, she flew directly towards Precia Testarossa as quickly as she could.

_Um… Meister? _Rein thought nervously. _You said you had a 'thought on that subject' but your current actions suggest it might have been something more along the lines of a 'lunatic impulse'…_

_I've been spending too much time around Vita, maybe? _Hayate replied with a grin. _Don't worry, I'm almost certain we won't die._

_… almost?!_

_**Trust **__me. _Hayate replied, her grin only growing.

_You **have** been spending too much time with Lady Vita... _Rein thought nervously.

Precia, for her part, looked on with some confusion. Thus far, the girl had demonstrated an aptitude for attack spells in the AAA to S+ range or even a little higher, but not much skill in anything else; if she hadn't been running off pre-stored power, she'd have been dead quite some time ago. Was she choosing just now to reveal some heretofore undisplayed talent for close combat? She _was _a Belkan mage, some close-range aptitude wouldn't be unusual... in fact, it would make more sense than her actual specialty. Well, if that were the case she'd quickly find that Precia's personal shields were more than up to the task of halting any melee attack unless she was caught completely off guard…

Wait. That damn book was glowing again. Well, again, it wasn't a concern… the Colossus may have had some loss of mobility, but its weapons systems were mostly uncompromised. They could easily counter any distance spell, and…

The girl was still flying.

Now, Precia Testarossa was not a combat mage by profession. Her combat magic was very, very good, but that was more of an extension of the fact that _all _of her magic was very good. She had not _learned _the magic so she could use it to fight, she had merely learned all the magic she could learn and a lot of it just happened to be for fighting purposes. As a result, her grasp of tactics was not what it could have been and she mostly relied on the fact that her spells were far beyond what most magi could draw on.

Still, even though she might not have been an expert in tactics, she knew enough to know there were some things that no mage would do. The biggest would be 'don't fire long-range bombardment magic at someone who is very close to you, because you will end up blasting yourself'.

Apparently, as Precia realized to her intense horror, Hayate had never been taught this. The girl raised her glowing hand, towards the sky, and the gathering of energy in the Belkan rune that appeared made her previous spells look positively tame by comparison.

_Is she insane?! At this distance, even if I counter the spell the shockwaves alone will still probably take both of us out of the fight… no, the Colossus uses lethal magic, so countering with that sort of power would probably just get us both killed! _Precia thought feverishly. Which was, of course, exactly what Hayate had counted on.

Wrapping herself in as many wards as she could muster on short notice, Precia retreated as rapidly as she could.

Not fast _enough, _but still.

"_Ragnarok!"_

The three blasts of light, one from each point of the triangle, were not aimed directly at Precia… no, that would have been too simple to dodge. Rather, the target was the ground _beneath_ Precia. The light struck and exploded, the dome of energy rapidly expanding.

Hayate smiled at the sight of Precia being swallowed up… it wasn't a lethal spell, of course, but the look of shock on the smug woman's face was just wonderfully cathartic, almost enough to make her forget all about the fact that the explosion had not actually stopped and she was about to be knocked out herself by the same spell. Ah, well…

_I __**don't like this plan! **_Rein wailed.

_Well, it got her, so that's the important part… _Hayate thought somewhat lamely as the explosion… began to move farther away? No, it was still coming at her, but she was moving away from _it _and going really, _really _fast and there was a pressure on her throat that was making it sort of hard to breathe, almost as though someone had grabbed her collar and was now dragging her along like she was a disobedient cat. Which was, of course, exactly what someone was doing.

As they finally cleared the blast radius, the pressure on her neck shifted to leave her being lifted by the front of her armor, leaving her suddenly face to face with Signum.

The outer layer of her armor was completely gone and her hair and fallen out of it's ponytail. Laevateinn was clasped firmly in her left hand, and the sheathe was nowhere to be seen; her right hand, the one which _had _been holding her sword when she'd taken that attack, was shaking slightly (Hayate could tell because it was also clasped onto her collar and lifting her to stare her Knight's commander directly in the eyes).

But at the moment, the thing which struck Hayate the most about the battered knight was that she looked _pissed off_.

"What do you think you are doing?! I understand you are inexperienced, but even you should have realized that was incredibly dangerous! If I had not managed to reach you in time--!"

"Signum, calm down. I had to deal with that woman quickly, and in any case it wasn't a lethal spell so…"

"That is entirely beside the point! Even unconsciousness is not without its risks, and just because your health has improved does not mean you can simply do whatever you like! What if you had damaged your legs?! They're not fully healed yet; the only reason you can even use them now is because of your Unison!" Signum snapped.

_Also, I __**don't like being exploded! **_Rein chimed in psychically.

Hayate's own expression shifted to an apologetic smile, totally in contrast to Signum's glare. "You're right, of course. I'm sorry I worried you, Signum. You're too good to me."

Signum's eyes widened and what _might _have been a slight blush came to her cheeks. "Ah. Yes. Well, as long as you… as long as you understand the severity of the situation. I-in any event, I was able to pull you away in time, so I suppose there was no harm done…"

"Could you please let go of my collar?"

"Eh? OH! Yes, I apologize mistress. Forgive my impertinence." Signum said, releasing her death-grip on the front of Hayate's shirt.

Hayate's smile only grew. "Don't apologize. I'd never get angry just because you were worried about me."

Signum's anger had completely dissipated, leaving her looking more and more uncomfortable. "Um… y-yes. Naturally. Such concern for my mistress is completely normal."

"Stop _apologizing_. You did save me, after all."

"Yes. Of course. I do apologize…" Signum began.

"What did I _just say?_" Hayate asked in a tone of exasperated amusement.

"… for taking so long to reach you. I'm afraid my arm was broken and I had to set the bone."

"Are you okay?! Should you be moving it like that?!" Hayate asked, now somewhat panicked herself. She'd assumed it was _hurt _by the way it shook, but broken? She'd just used it to drag Hayate to safety!

Signum blinked in confusion a few times. "Is there a problem? The fracture was actually not that serious, so it should be fine for now as long as I hold Laevateinn in the other arm. Fortunately, I'm ambidextrous." As if to prove this, she swung the sword in question once with her undamaged left arm.

Hayate just stared. "Well, if you say so... it's just, doesn't it hurt?"

Signum shrugged and flexed the fingers on her injured hand a few times. There was a cracking noise that made Hayate wince. "Slightly." Signum said, her voice betraying not a single hint of this 'slight pain' she claimed to feel.

Hayate shook her head. "You guys… I guess that once our trial is over I'm going to have to start working harder, you're making me feel inadequate…"

"That was not my intention, mistress." Signum said.

"… yes. I was aware of that. Thank you. _Stop apologizing._" Hayate said, smiling slightly in spite of herself.

Signum's lips didn't smile, but her eyes most definitely did. "Of course, mistress. I apologize for my apologies."

Hayate tried not to laugh. She mostly succeeded.

And then a blast of white light, so close that Hayate could feel it singe her hair, ruined the moment somewhat.

Slowly, both the young girl and the ancient knight looked down at the gigantic death machine they had… somehow… managed to completely forget about.

"Ah. So… apparently that mech is still active. That's right. It must have… um… gone into an auto-targeting mode when Precia was wounded…" Hayate said, trying her best to sound dignified.

"Yes. Although it seems you managed to damage its targeting computers, at least, or it wouldn't have missed us. Good work, mistress." Signum said solemnly and, to Hayate's great jealousy, without the slightest hint of the embarrassment she had to be feeling.

"Yes. How wonderful for me." Hayate said dryly.

"Quite." Signum replied. "… … we should, perhaps, deal with this."

"I was just thinking that. That armor is unreasonably durable, but I _think _if I focus everything I have left into one shot, I can at least take out that damaged leg and cripple its mobility." Hayate agreed.

_That was my plan! _Rein protested. _Meister, you shouldn't steal my brilliant schemes without asking!_

_I had more left to focus when you came up with it. Now that I've burned off some of that energy, we can probably pull it off without killing ourselves. _Hayate countered.

… … _Touché. _

"With its targeting systems damaged, that should be enough. With both of those out of the way I should be able to get in close enough to find a flaw in its armor." Signum said.

"That sounds reasonable, although are you sure you shouldn't go to support Zafira?"

"Zafira is a Wolkenritter. He can take care of himself." Signum said confidently.

* * *

Zafira stood up shakily in the crater he'd made when he slammed into the ground at just barely subsonic speed.

He probably would have said 'ouch' or something to that effect, but the boy with the axe was following him, and he found this to be tremendous motivation to shake off his disorientation and get _out _of there, even as the blade struck where he had been lying and tore a new crater in the increasingly pockmarked world of Dysval.

It wasn't much of an opening, but Zafira chose to take advantage of it anyway. He threw back his head and howled, focusing his power. The ground beneath his feet cracked as silver spears burst out of it, surrounding the boy as he tried to pull his weapon free.

Susanoo rolled his eyes. "Tsukuyomi lost to _this?_" He said dismissively. He then proceeded to finish ripping his axe out of the ground and destroy most of Zafira's attack with a single swing, trailing lightning through the shattered wreck of the spell.

This, Zafira supposed, was the problem with being himself. His fairly intimidating appearance often blinded people to the fact that, among the Wolkenritter, only Shamal was less powerful offensively. He was a Guardian Beast, designed to act in a support role to Vita and Signum, not really fight alone. He _could _fight independently, of course, but it wasn't really his strong point. The girl, Tsukuyomi, had already been tired and he'd managed to catch her off her guard; realistically, had they fought when she were at full power, he believed the best he could have managed would be to fight her to a standstill. He did better staying at mid-range and sticking to barriers and binding spells while the close-combat knights engaged the enemy.

Consequently, he was now beginning to have difficulties. And to make matters worse, he was beginning to think that Tsukuyomi, who had been holding a glowing hand over her damaged ribs ever since she'd been freed, was getting ready to enter the battle again.

The blue-haired boy pulled free of the last flickering remnants of Zafira's binding spell, and began another charge. The Wolkenritter bared his fangs, preparing to meet the attack… and found himself suddenly without the need to as Susanoo abruptly broke off his assault and flew backwards at top speed. The reason for this became apparent a second later as the ground between the two combatants froze over, a wave of frozen air shooting between them. Even though he managed to dodge the majority of it, Susanoo looked in dismay as glittering ice covered his weapon and crept up the arm he held it in as well.

Chrono landed next to Zafira, his staff in hand. "You all right?" the young officer asked.

"… I'm Fine. Why are you here?"

Chrono raised one eyebrow. "You looked like some assistance was in order."

"It's not that I don't appreciate your aid, I would just have preferred you stay with Shamal. She can handle herself, but with wounded to look after…"

"The TSAB is not incompetent, you know. Amy managed to get a clear signal and withdraw Shamal and the wounded to the _Asura _a little over a minute ago. Now all that remains… is to deal with this."

Zafira nodded once in response. "In that event, another sword could be useful after all. Welcome back to the battle."

"Do you think that will help?" Susanoo asked bluntly. "This spell… it really isn't that bad." His weapon began to glow within the ice cage, and in a burst of blue light, the crystal shattered and fell from his arm. "You seem to have gotten patched up, but your low-end spells don't have the bite to deal with me, Captain, and I _never _fall for the same trick twice."

Chrono raised his staff in challenge. "We'll just have to see, won't we?"

"No," Tsukuyomi said, floating into position next to her brother. "We won't."

_Are you up to this? You were looking a little low on stamina even before you took that wound. You okay? _Susanoo asked her silently. _If you're in trouble, I can handle them both myself. _

_I'm… I have been better. But even if I help you, we've both been at this for a long time. Even at best estimate, the Colossus only has about ten minutes of power left. In the worst-case scenario, it might run out any second now. We have to finish this quickly, or we'll lose our artillery support and- _Midway through her telepathic sending, however, the gem on her staff began to glow and said, "**Search complete, coordinates locked. Primary mission objective acquired."**

_Oh. Never mind, ten minutes will be sufficient. _She thought in satisfaction.

"Attention, unit! This is General Tsukuyomi of the royal guard, authorization code 000139281. Rescind Ms. Testarossa's access grant and slave targeting systems to my commands. Recalibrate for full-power, lock main cannon on target. Acquire a firing solution for the coordinates my device transmits to you." Tsukuyomi said.

Over the machine in question, Hayate gathered her power, the last bits of her stored energy vanishing into the newly-made spell. "All right, Signum! I'm going to cripple it, get ready to move in for… what the…?!" She asked, the war-mech's main cannon not only charging, but rotating to aim _away_ from Hayate. She'd been expecting and preparing for a counterstrike, but it wasn't even pointed in her general direction.

To her credit, it took her not even a second of contemplation to realize this was most likely _not a good thing_.

"Fire, mistress!" Signum shouted, but it wasn't really necessary. Before the last syllable even cleared her lips, Hayate had already released her attack. The bolts struck, dead on, sending the machine crashing down. Its damaged leg was torn off, and the machine fell, unable to ever rise again.

And then, since the loss of a leg in no way affected its main cannons, and since its targeting was being done for it by Tsukuyomi's device, it just fired anyway.

"… … … oops?" Hayate said.

Obediently following Suijin's target data, the white blast flew towards the horizon, far beyond the scope of the battle thus far, illuminating the plains where it passed. Then, just when it seemed that it might very well simply pass completely out of sight, it exploded, so far away that the explosion was little more than a pale glow in the distance.

A _green _glow.

Chrono had two thoughts, just then.

One was that Tsukuyomi had, in this battle, run low on energy more quickly and made more mistakes than someone who could fight on Nanoha's level should have… a discrepancy in her skills that could be explained by the fact that she had been simultaneously been running a complex search magic the entire battle. It annoyed him to come to the realization that he hadn't anticipated this, given that, as far as strategies went, it was _absolutely _something he would have done himself. _In the future, I'll have to remember not to believe my own hype. Just because something is hard doesn't mean I'm the only one skilled enough to pull it off._

The second thought was that _believing_ Tsukuyomi when she'd implied there was no Gate on this world had been _deeply _stupid on the part of everyone who had done it.

* * *

Nanoha took careful aim. The distance was considerable, but not so great that she needed Buster Form; she could stick with Excelion and its superior firepower, which was convenient. But either way, the first step was to get Vita away from the target.

_Vita! I have a target lock, so see if you can get away from her, even for a second or two. _Nanoha sent.

_**Hey! **__What part of 'keep your head down' do you not comprehend?! I-_

_I already have a lock, so you might as well just accept my help and move out of the way! _Nanoha said.

_Fine! But if you die you'll never hear the end of it! _Vita snapped. "Eisen! Mode shift!"

**"Raketenform!**" The weapon said obediently, instantly dropping a fair amount of mass, growing a golden spike on one end and… more to the point… a rocket engine on the other.

The sudden difference in pressure against her weapon made Amaterasu over-extend herself, her continuing push against Vita now sending the smaller girl backwards. Vita then made this new distance greater when she utilized Raketenform for… well, in her mind, the most _humiliating _use it could possibly be put to. Really, using the rocket _backwards _to aid in a _retreat_? It was just running away, no matter how she tried to paint it. The whole strategy was just really, really _lame, _if you asked her, and under normal circumstances she would have never even considered using it. Still, if Takamachi really just refused to stay down, then the stubborn brat _would _shoot, and she _would _do it the second she thought she had a clear target. In that case, it was probably best to actually _give _her such a target and not risk getting 'Bustered' by accident.

Vita watched as the wave of pink light swept through the space she had just vacated before detonating brilliantly.

The space she had _just _vacated.

_Takamachi… _She thought. Calmly. Quietly.

_Yes, Vita?_

_**You fired while I was still in the danger zone! **_Vita psychically roared.

_Gah! _

_Don't you 'gah' me! You could have killed me there, you idiot!_

_N-no! I wouldn't… for starters, I would never use a spell that **could **kill anybody, so..._

_Don't give me that! There is __**no way **__that blast could have charged and hit so quickly unless you fired it __**before **__I was completely out of the way!_

_I… well, I guess you could__say that I was certainly charged and ready __to fire while you were still in the way, but I definitely didn't actually release the blast until I was absolutely certain you were going to clear the target zone in time!_

_'Absolutely certain you __**were going**__' to clear it? _Vita asked in a very dangerous tone of thought.

_I mean until I was certain you __**had cleared **__it! Really! _Nanoha thought in a panic.

_You know, I always thought you had it out for me, deep down. Sure, you acted all friendly, but I always suspected that you never quite forgave me for the first time we met. Now I know for sure. _

_N-no! I don't, really! I forgave you for that a long time ago, I swear!_

_Actions speak louder than words, and your actions say you're trying to kill me!_

_It was a **non-lethal spell**! _Nanoha repeated insistently.

_So you __**were **__trying to hit me!_

_What?! How do those two things add together?! I really wouldn't… uh-oh._

_What do you mean uh… oh, come __**on. **__You gotta be kidding. _Vita thought in some combination of surprise and irritation.

Amaterasu slashed her spear through the air sharply once, seemingly just to clear the smoke. The portions of her of her new armor that covered her right arm and shoulder had been shattered, revealing the tattered barrier jacket beneath it, but beyond that…

_How did she dodge that? I had a perfect lock! _Nanoha complained.

_She's worse than a cockroach, that's how. _Vita thought bluntly.

"It's been awhile since I've been challenged like this, really." Amaterasu said. "Little brother called it refreshing. I'm new to your language, so tell me, is that a synonym for 'incredibly annoying'?"

_Takamachi. Get back, I've got this. _Vita thought.

_Let's do this! I'm behind you all the way! _Nanoha thought at the exact same second.

The mental silence was deafening.

_No, you're __**not**__! Thanks for helping out, but that's all I need from you, so you can- _Vita began.

_I am __**not **__just leaving you here alone, this woman is really powerful! I'd never forgive myself if-_

"Oh… never mind." Amaterasu said, tilting her head to one side.

"Eh?" The other two girls said in unison.

"It seems that those kids have finally managed to make a little progress. I can do more good elsewhere, so I'm going to leave you ladies for now."

"And what makes you think we'll just let you go?!" Vita snapped.

Amaterasu considered this. "Well, you don't really have a choice. We shouldn't waste their energy, but I don't think one jump will really hurt anything, so… Gate control, I'm exercising my administrative access. If you could please send me to my siblings? My weapon has the exact coordinates." She said. A second later, she vanished in a flash of green light.

Vita's eyes widened as she looked at the suddenly empty air. "W-what?! There's no way she could set up a dimensional transfer so quickly!"

"She used the Gate! From what Yuuno said, it could do something like that easily!" Nanoha realized. "We need to get to the others, fast!"

"Dammit… I'm gonna start setting up the teleport! No matter how much interference is in the atmosphere, nothing can keep the Wolkenritter away from our master for very long! Tell your ship that I'll have a viable teleport lock they can use in sixty… make that _thirty _seconds!"

Thirty seconds. Certainly not enough time for things to go horribly wrong.

* * *

The first hint that Hayate got that something had gone horribly wrong was when Chrono's voice roared through her mind, _**Do not let them or anything they have touched reach that light!**_

The second was when she went flying through the air.

She was not sure exactly why, at first; she felt a pressure as a blur crashed into her and sent her flying, then heard something cut through the air and impacted against something else with a metallic screech and a dull thud… metal against metal and then, briefly, metal against flesh.

When she managed to right herself, she found Signum floating somewhat unsteadily between her and a new arrival, a red-armored woman with a spear based device. Signum's already broken arm had gone from being held somewhat gingerly against her body to hanging limply at her side, blood flowing down it.

"Nicely done. I thought I'd manage an easy surprise attack considering how sudden my appearance was..." The woman said calmly.

Signum shifted to place her body and sword both between the new enemy and her mangled arm and said, "I'm not such an amateur that I'd miss someone like you. You can hide your magic well, but such an intense killing intent is like a beacon to a warrior's instincts."

Amaterasu sighed in annoyance. "Ah. So it was my own fault then… I suppose that's just what I get for letting my temper get the best of me. I was hoping to kill that winged girl and then get in at least one shot at you before my presence was detected, but I couldn't really manage either."

"Watch your words. I already have little reason to take you alive." Signum said, visibly bristling at the woman casually referencing plans to kill Hayate.

"Oh, my… ordinarily, I'd be annoyed by someone staring at me with eyes so obviously full of malice, but on you it's just charming. Particularly considering that your wounds are slowing you down much, much more than you're admitting." Amaterasu said. Signum did not react to this taunt visibly, but Amaterasu smiled as if she had. "You thought I wouldn't notice? Any warrior talented enough to detect my attack on pure instinct should have blocked that attack, but you couldn't quite pull it off, could you? The fact you can act so fierce when you're in such bad shape is just so cute! It's like a kitten is baring her fangs at me."

"A _kitten?!_" Signum hissed... and then realized, when the woman's eyes glittered with laughter, that she had just made the cat comparison _more _apt. She didn't blush from embarassment. Really.

Fortunately for the totally-not-blushing Signum, Amaterasu was distracted just then by a voice in her head. _Tsuku and I are engaged over here, and we're not sure what happened to Miss Precia. We're going to try to make a break for the Gate in a second; can you keep those two off our backs while we get these two off our fronts? _Susanoo asked.

_Not a problem. _Amaterasu replied. As soon as the thought left her mind, however, two white circles appeared in the air, and within them materialized the girls she'd been dealing with less than a minute previously. _Unless, of course, the kids from the other site somehow manage to follow me here more quickly than I anticipated. _

_All right, I'm going to come right out and say it… we are outmatched, and I'm willing to bet they could dig up more reinforcements if they really tried. If we fight this out, I'm seeing TSAB prison cells in our future. _Susanoo said, although he sounded as though merely thinking the words caused him physical pain. _Suggestions, ladies? _

_I might have a plan, if big sister can get all eyes focused on her for a few seconds. _Tsukuyomi chimed in.

Amaterasu gave a decidedly unpleasant smile. _As it so happens, attracting attention is my specialty. _

_Ugh. When you say that, it sounds really bad for some reason... _Susanoo thought.

_Now really isn't the time, big brother. _Tsukuyomi interjected. _As for you, hold still. I need to get ready, so wait for big sister's distraction..._

She leveled her weapon at the new arrivals… more particularly at Nanoha, who she was really, really sick of on a lot of levels. Her weapon and armor began to glow brilliantly, the mechanisms thrumming with power and waves of heat and light running off her and sending her hair whipping wildly. _Watch your own backs, kids… this one can get a bit messy!_

**"Fire Dragon…**" her device began. Signum, recognizing the fairly obvious signs that something was up, lunged, Laevateinn leading the way… and encountered a rather unfortunate problem for anyone attempting to attack an armored opponent with one hand.

The woman did not cease her attack charge, but removed one hand from her spear to raise her gauntlet into the sword's path. The flames limning the blade hissed as the weapon cut, and Signum felt it pierce the armor and encounter flesh… but it did not penetrate quite far enough.

"You have a lot of nerve using fire against me, but I'll forgive you this time. It's hard to stay mad at such a striking knight." Amaterasu said, not visibly bothered by the blade embedded in her forearm. "Now, if you'll excuse me?"

"No!" Signum protested, trying to pull her blade out for a second swing, before…

"**… Roar!" **Kagutsuchi said.

The column of flame that resulted would not have looked out of place in the mythologies of any number of worlds, albeit most of them would have placed it as descending from the heavens rather than from the tip of a blue-haired woman's spear. Fortunately, Nanoha was not terribly unused to having large, horrible things coming directly at her face. She raised her own weapon; she could have a decent buster charged before that attack hit, and even if that didn't stop it, it should weaken it enough for shields from Vita or herself to deal with the situation admirably.

Amaterasu smirked and, even as she brought her weapon into line to block Signum's continued attacks, said, "_Now_."

"**Spark Rain: Nova Formation.**" Her device said obediently.

Nanoha's composure at seeing a monstrous cannon spell rushing towards her was _somewhat _shaken by the sight of that self-same spell violently exploding long before it reached her. And she was downright _panicked _by the realization that it wasn't actually detonating… it was _splitting, _breaking down into a cloud of small blasts that rained over the battlefield seemingly at random, forcing even those who hadn't been anywhere near the initial blast to strengthen their defenses or dodge for dear life. Still, each individual bullet was nothing any decent mage couldn't have handled, and they were spread too far apart to really do any serious damage. The problem should have been fairly easy to deal with, all told.

And it would have been, except the real point of the spell had always been to make a lot of light and noise that would draw all eyes away from Tsukuyomi, even for a few seconds. Chrono learned this to his great dismay when he turned his eyes back to her to find one of the small Drive units floating over her palm. And another near her face. And another hovering in the area around her knees.

And a couple hundred more of them, a vast cloud of illusionary duplicates scattered around her.

"… oh, Hell." Chrono said.

"Command, Execute." Tsukuyomi said softly, and the wave of false reflections, the true gem hidden among them, glowed brilliantly and shot towards the barely-visible bubble of green light on the horizon.

Nanoha, seeing this problem, chose to deal with it in the way she usually dealt with such things. Or at least the way she dealt with such things when she already had a significant amount of power stored in Raising Heart that would otherwise go to waste.

"Excelion Buster, Force Burst!" She shouted. The attack went off, splitting as it did into individual 'arms' which whipped through the skies before detonating brilliantly. A great many of the gems winked out of existence at the slightest touch of the pink light; just as she'd thought, the only way that Tsukuyomi could create so many was to give none of them anything approaching physical presence. But when the light cleared, she saw to her dismay that not only were still too many to count, but the remaining illusions had spread themselves out far more to make targeting more difficult.

_Rein? _Hayate thought. _What have we got left?_

_Not much. _Rein admitted. _I don't think we could get all of those…_

_Can we get __**some **__of them? _

_Definitely! _Rein said, warming up to the idea as she thought. _They have to travel so far, we can definitely get at least one spell off! We might get lucky and hit the real one, you never know! _

_All right then! _Hayate said. She was all out of stored power, but if Rein was helping then she was certain she could still manage to bring out a little bit more from within herself. This spell would be on the slow side, but the gems still had such a long way to travel that she _should _be able to target a significant chunk of them before they reached their destination. She leveled her staff towards her targets, and began to reach down and draw out whatever power she still had. Energy flowed through her as she prepared to begin her incantation, making her hair stand on end as sparks of violet electricity snapped through the air around…

Wait.

Violet electricity?

_**Rein! **__New plan! Shield, the best shield we can put up! _Hayate thought. It wasn't a matter of countering it this time; even if she still had the power to do so, she was already trapped in the attack. Defense was the only option, and unfortunately it wasn't even a good one when she stopped to think about it.

_But we're not good at shields! _Rein pointed out. She wasn't wrong.

_Well we have about two seconds to __**get **__good! Overdraw my linker core if you have to, I'd rather spend a month sick in bed than die! _Hayate snapped. The purple lightning was starting to get more intense, growing from tiny sparks dancing between her hair to coherent bolts and oh _man _this was going to be close…

Fortunately, Hayate and Reinforce _did _manage to get a shield in place before the positively gargantuan bolt of electric death struck them. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very good one. It probably kept her from dying, but… as far she could tell, that was just about _all _it did.

Hayate _tried _to scream as the storm of energy tore through the flickering silver bubble she'd raised around herself, but found that she simply couldn't. A sensation not unlike someone taking a blowtorch to each and every one of her nerve endings ripped through her body. The actual pain itself was mercifully brief, but largely because she felt a numbness settling into her whole body fairly quickly. That was probably bad.

_**Meister! **__Meister, you need to focus! I don't know if I can hold the unison if you lose consciousness, and our wings are damaged! _

_I'm… I'm okay. _Hayate returned somewhat weakly. The wings were mostly for show, so as long as she could stay conscious she probably wouldn't actually fall. It took some effort, particularly when the blessed numbness turned back into soul-crushing pain after a few seconds.

It was astonishing, really. She had thought that the last time she'd seen Precia Testarossa, _that _had been the angriest the woman could possibly be. But now the woman was lined from head to toe in light, her eyes were literally _glowing. _This, combined with her tattered dress and hair whipping around her like tentacles, made the woman look more like a demon than any sort of human being. It was as though she was inventing new _levels _of unthinking fury as the fight went on.

"Did. You. Think. It. Was. _Over? _Did. You. Think. You'd. _Won?!_" Precia snarled.

Hayate; wounded, out of energy, and facing down a foe she'd have probably had trouble with if she'd been at her absolute best, asked herself a very serious question: _What would Vita do?_

Smiling through the pain, she said, "A little bit, yes."

_Please stop taunting the murderous evil mage when I'm sharing your body! _Reinforce thought.

As she watched the older woman raise her hand and saw the sky go dark, Hayate's reply was, _In the future, I may refrain from taunting her when __**I **__am sharing my body. _

* * *

The reactions to Hayate's plight were varied.

Signum instantly turned to go to her proper place; between her master and danger. She'd taken two bullets for Hayate today, a third was fine by her. She was interrupted in this action by the red armored knight who danced in front of her, her spear swinging up in a graceful arc and forcing Signum back.

"Sorry, but I'm not the sort who lets a classy lady like you out of my sight." Amaterasu said.

Signum gritted her teeth and readied her blade. "I don't have time for you…!"

"You'll have to make it." Amaterasu replied calmly. "If it makes you feel better, it looks like at least one more knight feels much the same way you do, so your friend there won't be all by herself for much longer."

Nanoha gazed at the figure who had launched the surprise attack on Hayate while her own attention had been elsewhere in wide-eyed astonishment. The woman in question looked somewhat the worse for wear, but… but…

"That… that woman, is-! But that's _impossible_, she's…" Nanoha began.

"_**Dead**_." Vita growled.

The rocket engine on the back of Graf Eisen exploded into flame as Vita hurled herself headlong into the fray, her weapon poised to crush the woman who'd harmed her mistress into jelly.

Nanoha, meanwhile, took a second to consider the situation. Personally, she felt bad for Fate. Her friend had really only just managed to get over much of what Precia had done to her, and those scars were still quite sensitive. Professionally, she felt _annoyed_. The Jewel Seed crisis had been her first case, and she'd considered it closed. To have it _un-solve _itself with the reemergence of the primary offender left her more than slightly irritated.

And of course, there was the fact that, when it came to Precia Testarossa, her opinions were closer to Arf's than Fate's. She _did not like _that woman. She did not like her at _all. _

"Raising Heart, load the Axel Charger." She commanded. Her device obediently loaded two cartridges and replied with a confident, "**ACS mode, initialized. Strike Flame."**Without another moment's hesitation, she joined Vita in her charge, the newly appeared energy blade leading the charge to pierce the inevitable shields.

They covered roughly half the distance before Precia gestured sharply with one hand and the skies opened, a pillar of lightning slamming down between herself and Vita. The shock from the thunder alone was enough to make anyone in the sky need to at least brace themselves; for Vita and Nanoha, the targets, the effect was considerably worse.

_Holy crap… _Vita thought, momentarily shocked out of her anger. _Who is __**this **__lady?! No way should she have been able to… do whatever the hell that was, not so __**fast! **_

_I heard she knocked out a warship by herself once. _Nanoha replied. _Though I didn't see it personally._

… … … _okay, this might be a little harder than I thought. _Vita admitted.

_Look on the bright side. At least we got her attention on us instead of Hayate. _Nanoha thought. Although considering Precia's expression as she apparently recognized Nanoha (and did not appear to like what she saw), she wasn't certain that was a good thing.

_Hey, why do I need to 'look on the bright side'? I didn't say that I was __**worried**__. _Vita thought indignantly. _She hurt Hayate. I don't care how powerful she is, I'm breaking her._

Nanoha smiled at that.

* * *

Chrono considered his options.

The Drive unit was quick, but not impossibly so, and its target was distant. He'd estimate they had at least a few minutes before impact. He could catch the real one in that time… if he knew which one it was. Nanoha had helped by eliminating a lot of the choices, but there were still enough that he couldn't trust his ability to get the right one for as long as Tsukuyomi was maintaining her illusions.

As long as.

_I can defeat her. I can get the gem in time. I cannot do both. _He reasoned. "You, Wolken… Zafira!" He said, remembering the familiar's name at the last second. Ah well, at least he'd remembered to not actually _call _Zafira a 'familiar'. "Go and get the gem! I'll have the illusions dealt with by the time you catch up to it!"

The wolf cast him an expression that suggested he did _not _approve of being ordered around by anyone who wasn't Hayate or at _least _Signum. Chrono sent him a return glance that suggested he didn't care and that Zafira should do as he was told. Fortunately, Zafira was a professional, so Chrono's glance won out after a second or two.

After the guardian beast had taken off, Chrono turned to Tsukuyomi and leveled his staff.

"You really believe you can defeat me in time? You only have a minute or two…"

"Actually, I probably could," Chrono said, and he meant it. If running a search magic had impacted her performance negatively, running a major illusion like that would leave her barely able to fight back. "But I don't have to."

"… … … … wait, what?" Tsukuyomi replied, blinking in confusion.

"Remember earlier, when I said that Shamal and the wounded had been withdrawn? You had no way of knowing who 'Shamal' was, but three unconscious people certainly gave you a tempting target. Wouldn't it have made more sense for me to let you keep thinking they were there? I could have shared that report easily by telepathy and never let you hear it. So why didn't I?"

She didn't even need to answer, because it was obvious. In a combat situation, there was only one thing more dangerous than having _no _information, and that was having the _wrong _information. Most likely the wounded actually had been evacuated, but…

Tsukuyomi's eyes widened as the bind, cast from outside her field of vision by Shamal, who had been waiting for Chrono's signal for some time now, snapped into existence around her, restricting instantly to pin her arms against her sides. Observing the situation from Klarer Wind's scrying circle from the maximum possible spell range, Shamal thought, _I have her, Mr. Harlaown. _

Chrono nodded in satisfaction. Deep down in his heart, there was still some portion of him that had a difficult time really _liking _the Wolkenritter, but even that part would admit that they were damn effective. He raised his own device and said, "Struggle Bind," placing a second layer of containment on top of the trapped girl. As the anti-magic binding eliminated Tsukuyomi's active spells, Chrono sent to Zafira the thought, _Keep watch… whichever one disappears last is the target. _Once again, the guardian beast gave no verbal response, but he _did _return to his human form so he would actually have hands to catch the target in question. Chrono chose to take that as an affirmative.

Tsukuyomi struggled against her bindings briefly, before recognizing the futility. "Impressive. You are an intelligent young man. Intelligent enough that I'm surprised you missed it..."

This, Chrono supposed, was the moment when 'you have the right to remain silent' should have been his response to anything she said. But her continued calmness, even moreso than usual was beginning to unnerve him. So instead he said "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Didn't Nanoha Takamachi tell you? I'm not a very good liar. She made certain to point this out to me. So I made very sure to only tell you the truth, when you asked me to hand over the Drive unit. I didn't say, 'there is no Gate on this world' or 'we don't have a unit to give you'. I just said 'I don't have one', because I really didn't. In fact, I haven't even _touched _this particular unit since before we arrived on this world."

Chrono considered this. Then he considered that, ever since the most recent huge explosion and the trick with the illusionary gems, someone who was usually very, very loud hadn't been making any noise at all. _Where… where's the third one?! _He thought frantically, scanning the skies and seeing the most horrifying thing he could imagine right that second: nothing.

The 'distraction' had been deeper than he'd thought.

Zafira closed in on the last gem in the sky… and froze. There was a scent in the air, but it was still very distant. He hadn't been expecting the device to have a strong scent, and wasn't relying on his nose as a result, but the small jewel in front of him had _no _scent, just like all the others. He closed his hand around it, just to be safe, and felt empty air as it vanished at his touch. _Then the real one is still ahead? I don't see anything and the scent is hard to follow at this speed, but there's definitely something…_

And far ahead of him, something that had been travelling much faster than the cloud of illusions shimmered into view as one final illusion fell. It fell last because after Tsukuyomi had been caught, another source of magical energy had taken over maintaining it, even if it wasn't stable enough to hold it for more than a few extra seconds.

Susanoo smiled as he rocketed towards the Gate, a green gemstone glimmering in his palm. "Dimension Driver serial #04, target locked, program confirmed! Command execute!" He said, rearing back and throwing the Drive unit like a fastball.

* * *

In the Twilight Palace, Enlil lied on the floor in exhaustion, marshalling her strength for when her assault force was prepared to withdraw.

Yggdrasil, who had taken on the responsibility of monitoring the search programs probing the outside dimensions, said "**Primary objectives have been cleared, your majesty."**

And for the first time in a long time, the Twilight Queen laughed in true delight.


	17. Clearing the Board

**Author's Note: Um... hee, hee... remember how I said the next chapter hopefully wouldn't take a month? Um... whoops? In my pathetic defense, it apparently took _exactly _a month, so at least I didn't go _over..._**

… **Yeah, sorry. If you must blame someone, blame **_**Persona 3**_**. I picked it up off Amazon and, well, I've since become a shameless addict. It eats up all the free time I have left after work, sleep, and hunting for a better job. But on the bright side, I'm almost finished, with the main storyline at least. Maybe once that's done the addiction will wane and I can do something productive with my life before I start on the bonus content. **

**Or, instead of productive things, I could write fanfiction.**

**Chapter 16: Clearing the Board  
**

The light on the horizon cast an almost tangible hush over the battlefield, as though nobody was completely certain what to do now.

It was Chrono who finally broke the silence, metaphorically at least. _As far as I'm concerned, absolutely nothing has changed. A machine is only dangerous with someone telling it what to do. Proceed with the arrest._

Upon noticing that no black hole had opened in the sky and the TSAB mages did not appear to be preparing to withdraw, Susanoo took the initiative. _All right. I'll go try to break those bindings on Tsuku. If Miss Precia provides artillery support, we should be able to get out of here quickly enough, so let Lil know that we're ready to withdraw, and… _Susanoo began.

Precia did not even respond, simply breaking the link and turning her back on him. Okay, that wasn't encouraging, but he hadn't really been talking to or terribly concerned with her anyway. That wasn't so bad.

_We're not leaving_. Amaterasu said in his mind.

Okay, that was bad.

_What?! _He asked, because he couldn't think of anything better to ask.

_The Gates were our __**primary**__ objective. The removal of major threats, however, is also important. So we're going to remove some. _Amaterasu thought bluntly.

_Isn't that a big risk? We might have an advantage, but it isn't much of one. And even if we win, there's no guarantee we could do it quickly enough to get Tsuku back before they extract her. _Susanoo thought. _Besides, since when do you care about secondary objectives? We got what really mattered._

_Didn't I already tell you that I'm expecting better from you? Your tendency to goof around was tolerable when we had basically unlimited resources to back us up, but success or failure is solely on us now. We need to take this seriously._

_… And you really expect me to believe you haven't hit on __**anybody **__since we started this? _He replied dryly.

_No, of course not. _She thought. After all, suggesting a potential wardrobe upgrade didn't count as flirting. And she'd made a serious effort to kill the girl, in spite of the fact that she would just look _adorable _in something a little more form-fitting, and maybe a nice… no, now wasn't the time. _Now do your duty._ She thought finally, and cut the link.

Susanoo sighed in deep-rooted annoyance. Tactically speaking, Amaterasu probably wasn't wrong that taking out this unit would be a good idea in the long run, and it _was _an objective, albeit one of secondary concern. It was just… things might have been leaning in their favor right this second, but it was still anybody's fight, and unlike them, the enemy could both send for reinforcements _and _afford to lose soldiers. Plus, they had Tsukuyomi. The concept of leaving her in harm's way was nothing he could ever possibly get behind. She was so _small._

And on a slightly less relevant note, he didn't really want Ammy to kill Signum before he got to give her a fair rematch. He owed her one after the way their duel had ended.

The problem, then, was that Ammy was in charge of the mission, and she was the one with the authority to request Lil pull them out. She was also pretty clearly in one of her worse moods, and generally impossible to talk to once she made up her mind about something. As for Miss Precia, he was starting to wonder if she might be legitimately mentally unstable. A poor temper, that he could understand, but that woman was taking this battle _far _too personally. War was complicated enough when it was just business. Getting hatred involved just muddled everything up.

It was about then that Zafira chose to snap him out of his reverie with a fist to the face.

Caught utterly off-guard, he was sent flying backwards and barely managed to right himself in time to catch the following strike on the flat of his blade, ignoring the stream of blood that was now flowing from his (possibly broken, but at least very bent) nose. _Dammit, he's faster than he was before...! _He thought in annoyance. Out loud, he said "Idiot, you're just making things worse! I'm trying to think here!"

Zafira's reply was little more than a feral snarl, the silver light around his fist growing suddenly brighter as he pushed more power into his follow-through, slamming Susanoo back for the second time in under a minute.

"Dammit… _fine! _I'm not about to start backing down from a challenge now!" Susanoo snapped.

"Are you certain you want to do that? Because I can't help but notice you're beginning to feel the strain." Zafira asked. There was no hint of mockery or anything similar in his tone, just a simple question… but it still managed to get across the thought that he had noticed something that Susanoo had not.

Susanoo's eyes widened as he considered this seemingly out-of-place comment and considered what the implications. _The strain? I assumed he'd been hiding his power before and was starting to fight more seriously now, but… am I thinking about this the wrong way? Invisibility is an advanced illusion, and I don't have any talent for that sort of thing. I only had to maintain Tsuku's casting for a little bit, but I've been pressing my limits for awhile now…_ He thought. _His speed and strength haven't gone up at all. I've hit the wall and started to get slower and weaker._

_Am I going to be able to win?_

It wasn't that he was afraid of losing… really, his first instinct was to congratulate Zafira. But on the other hand, the situation was already bad enough. Saving Tsuku would be hard enough without having to somehow rescue himself…

_Heeeey, Tsuku! She's smart and it's not like that binding stops her brain from working! _He thought. Emboldened by this realization, he shifted to telepathy and thought,_ Hey, little sis, can you hear me? I need to ask you something…_

* * *

Tsukuyomi, bound head to foot in glowing chains and suspended in a pyramid of green light, said, "May I please be allowed to go free now?"

"I'm afraid not." Shamal said. Chrono had left the girl in her care while he went to help in the larger engagement, and she wasn't exactly sure what to do with her. She layered on a new binding every few seconds, but beyond that, she was really more focused on healing Hayate than dealing with her prisoner. Her young master was likewise floating serenely in green light beside her, but in her case she was slipping in and out of consciousness, and the light in question was a gentle healing magic that was slowly but surely repairing the wounds she'd suffered.

"Are you certain?" Tsukuyomi continued.

"Quite certain, yes."

"If you let me go free, I shall give you a small gift. Would you like a stuffed animal? I believe I could acquire one."

"That's very thoughtful of you, but I won't be letting you go." Shamal said.

"You could give it to that girl. She would like it." Tsukuyomi said, gesturing with her head (the only part of her she could move) at Hayate.

"She probably would. But I still can't release you, I'm afraid."

"That is unfortunate." Tsukuyomi said. "Perhaps some kind of candy, instead?"

"The problem was not the nature of the gift so much as the fact that the idea of letting you go at all is unacceptable." Shamal said delicately.

"Oh." Tsukuyomi replied. "You are _certain_?"

"Again, quite certain."

"Oh." Tsukuyomi said again. Apparently, she decided there wasn't much else to say, because she fell silent at that point.

On the outside.

_Yes, I can hear you. What's wrong? _She asked Susanoo.

_Look, I'm trying to convince Ammy to focus on freeing you and withdrawing, but she isn't inclined to agree._

_She is correct. We have an opportunity to cripple the investigation team handling our case. Staying to finish them is the proper course of action._

_You do realize that even if we win, they'll probably still keep you, right?_

_I am expendable._

_What?! No you're…_

_There is only one more Drive unit that needs to be used. If we can disable this group of mages, then it isn't likely a similar team can be mobilized in time to stop our next incursion. Therefore, I will not be needed for that mission. On the other hand, if you save me at the cost of letting them go, they will most likely engage us as a single unit in the next encounter, and the odds of us triumphing are slim to none. In this instance, her majesty's orders come before my safety. I am expendable. _

_Tsuku! I… even if you do have sort of a point, I won't accept… _Susanoo's mental voice fell silent, and in the distance she saw a line of silver light slam into a line of blue light. The latter went briefly out of control, like a firefly that suddenly lost one wing. _Sorry… didn't dodge quite fast enough. _He thought, his thoughts tinged with obvious discomfort.

_You are being defeated?_

_Well, I'm just kind of running low on stamina… between that and my wounds it's getting harder to keep up with this guy. I can't reliably break his shields anymore, so I'm having some trouble. I wouldn't say a victory is impossible, but it's… well, it could be going better._

_Ah. _She considered this for a moment._ In that case, I may have an idea. I'll need your command codes, and I'll need you to get me out of these binds, but if you can get me those two things I think I can do what you're asking._

_Well, you already know all my access codes, so you officially have my permission to use them. I can put it in writing later if you need. But the second part won't be easy. _

_I'm not too far away from you._

_No, but there's a rather large animal-person who's expressed an interest in caving my head in. _Susanoo thought glumly. _But since my baby sis asked, I'll try my very best! Oh, and… um… on that subject, why the change of heart?_

_Just because I am expendable to me doesn't mean you are. _She replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

_… Awwwwwwww! Y-you're gonna make me cry if you talk like OW! _He thought as Zafira took advantage of his continued distraction to kick him in the head.

_Idiot._

* * *

Signum winced as the spear slipped past her guard and traced a red-hot line along her shoulder. _This would be easier with two hands… _She thought. Fighting a spear with a longsword was already difficult in a number of ways; doing so with only one reliable arm was worse. And just to make matters even more unpleasant, this one was a more talented than the one she'd been dealing with… comparable raw power, but more focused, more controlled, and a good deal more serious. Even if she were at her best, she wouldn't have called victory guaranteed, and right now she wasn't at her best.

And it seemed her opponent agreed with her assessment, unfortunately. "You kids are a real annoyance, you know that? Even now, if you focused all of your energy on defense and retreat, I'd wager that most of you could manage to get away with your lives. But you just keep fighting, even when it should be obvious, even to you… _especially _to you… that no victory lies before you." Amaterasu said. However, a second opinion quickly emerged that gave Signum a bit more confidence.

_Ms. Signum. If you could please do what you can to obstruct her long-range countering abilities in… let's see, three seconds? _A young masculine voice said in her mind.

Three seconds wasn't a great deal of time to prepare, but then she didn't need a great deal of time if all she needed to accomplish was basic disruption.

The darts of blue light came at Amaterasu from the worst possible angle… above and behind. Her sense for such things was better than a human's, but the back of the neck was still a blind spot. She detected the attack before impact, but not nearly as early as she should have. _Still, _she thought as she swung her weapon, _Should be able to deflect most of __**Oh Hells. **_

She found her train of thought violently derailed by the sudden shift of her failing opponent's sword into a segmented whip that wrapped around her own device and halted her attempted interception. _Hells, hells, hells… _She managed to think, drawing in her limbs to protect her head and the sections of her armor that had been damaged before…

Impact.

She was still in flight when the deluge of light ended, but several new cracks were visibly marring her armor… and despite her best efforts to the contrary, two of the magical bolts had struck and embedded themselves in her unprotected arm. It was only magical damage, so there didn't seem to be any genuine wounds, but the limb had gone numb and heavy.

Amaterasu swung her arm, shattering the lodged energy spikes, and turned her eyes toward Chrono. _Weak, but skilled. He slipped right into my blind spot and charged that spell, and I didn't even notice until he'd already fired. And then there's __**her…**_

"You actually managed to snare me there. I wouldn't have thought it possible with those wounds." Amaterasu said thoughtfully.

Signum's calm expression didn't change. "It was nothing special. You simply underestimated my resolve, that's all."

"You… are… so…" Amaterasu said, her voice growing softer with each word. Finally, after a short pause, she spouted, "_… Perfect!"_

"… eh?"

"I'm sorry! I'll apologize to Susa for my hypocrisy later, but it's just so hard to maintain a killing edge when I'm around you! A noble and elegant lady of war, fighting on despite overwhelming odds, pushing through pain I can barely imagine! And in spite of this, her beauty isn't diminished in the slightest… no, rather she shines all the more brilliantly as she overcomes the hardships in her path and lets her true spirit shine through! Usually I find tenacity annoying in my enemies, but you just make it look so _good_!" Amaterasu gushed. Her voice then dropped an octave and became considerably more frank as she added, "Oh, and that body? _Wow. _My compliments to whoever designed _you_. You are a construct, or a program, right? Don't worry, I am too, I wouldn't discriminate based on something so silly. I just ask because human women don't usually turn out so… let's be frank, _spectacular_."

"… … …" Signum fell silent, her eyes wide in the most sincere confusion she'd felt in a long, long time. She was _fairly _certain she'd have noticed if the woman she was facing had been replaced with an entirely different person, and yet that was what appeared to have happened.

Amaterasu then turned her attention to Chrono, crooning "Oooh, and he's cute too… it's a shame he's just a child, he probably would have grown up to be quite a heart-breaker…"

"_Child_?! I'm fifteen!" Chrono protested.

"… Reeeeeeeally? And the legal age of consent in your culture is…?"

"W-w-w-what are you talking about?!" Chrono snapped, blushing furiously. "This is a warzone! Stop babbling about useless things!"

"Awww, he's shy! That just makes you cuter, you know…"

"_Stop that!"_

"Right, right, sorry…" She said. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, and when she opened them again, there was once again no visible emotion in them. "Business before pleasure, of course."

Chrono had never felt so relieved to be facing down a stone-cold killer.

* * *

The hammer collided uselessly against the strange shield, the spike on the end vainly attempting to punch through and being repulsed with almost insulting ease. The return fire, on the other hand, nearly wrenched the weapon from Vita's hands.

Well, calling it 'return fire' might have been a misnomer. The spell in question was more like a sea anemone made of energy, the tendrils emerging from an aura of light around Precia. It not only struck like a bolt, but actually attempted to wrap around Graf Eisen and literally rip it away from her. It might have actually succeeded if it weren't for the rain of pink light that crashed down on Precia, forcing her to draw her energy back in and focus it on defense.

Vita pulled back slightly and stopped. _You see that, Takamachi?_

_You mean the way that attack spell projects from her shields? _Nanoha asked tersely.

_Yeah. Pretty nasty, huh? She can attack, bind, and defend all with the same spell. At least she can only seem to do them one at a time though, or we'd really be screwed._

_Still, she can switch between them so quickly…_

_Yeah. I thought for sure we had her that time. I'm thinking we need to kill one of us._

_… eh?_ Nanoha replied. It seemed the logical thing to think.

_Well, fact of the matter is that it's looking like we can only penetrate her defenses in the exact __**instant **__she's attacking one of us. So one of us needs to get her focused enough that she makes a sustained attack on one of us, something she can't just cancel or withdraw. And… well… she hits like a truck. So if whoever does the distraction can dodge or counter, great, but if they can't…_

_Yeah. _Nanoha agreed solemnly. Then, in a shocking display of cosmic convergence, she and Vita had the exact same thought.

_I'll do it. _They thought in unison. They then turned to glare at each other suspiciously and thought, _No, __**I'll **__do it, I won't let you risk yourself!_

_"_What are you waiting for?_" _Precia Testarossa basically snarled at them. She had reached the point, really, where she was only vaguely coherent and seemed to be attacking anyone that got too close to her.

"Excuse me, but we're trying to talk here so could you _please _show a little courtesy?" Nanoha said testily.

"_**Shut up!**_" Vita snapped.

Precia blinked a few times in visible confusion, and, against all logic… shut up. There are some things that even the most intense of psychotic rages simply cannot stand up against, and this was apparently one of them.

_I can take the hit better than you__**. **_Vita thought.

_I can counter a pure energy assault better than you._

_I'm less wounded than you are._

_I'm better at dodging._

_Are not!_

_Am so!_

_Well… my armor is better than yours!_

_I know more about facing lightning magic!  
_

_... ... ... Rock paper scissors! _Vita finally said desperately.

Nanoha did not reply to this. She didn't really _need _to.

_Okay, yeah, that's dumb._Vita acknowledged. _But I'm not giving up! I'll think of something else!_

_All right. I didn't want to play this card, but you're not giving me a choice. _Nanoha thought. _It's… well, it's really sort of horrible, and I feel really bad about it, even with her, but I **know **that I can make her attack me. Just me, to the exclusion of everything else. Can you say the same? _

_You're sure? _Vita thought doubtfully.

_I… yeah. There's only one thing she cares about, and if she had it, she wouldn't be here. So I can use it to get her to come after me. _

_And you're not going to tell me what it is. _Vita thought. It was not a question.

_No._

_Even though you __**know **__I'll smack you for this later._

_Even though. _Nanoha confirmed.

_Ugh. Fine! Have it your way. But if you die, I'll kill you! _Vita growled.

_Then try to make sure I don't die. _Nanoha agreed.

Vita took off, making an obvious move to flank Precia. The woman gathered her power, preparing for the blatantly noticeable assault that the girls weren't even trying to disguise…

And Nanoha fought down bile and disgust at exactly how underhanded this was going to be and said, "So, after the Garden of Time collapsed, what did happen to you and Alicia? After all, _I_ made sure your plans with the Jewel Seeds didn't work..." Nanoha said, deliberately both bringing up the one thing Precia truly cared about and then emphasizing the fact that it was _her fault _that Precia did not have that thing. The result was really quite spectacular.

One second Nanoha was floating, facing a somewhat disheveled and wild-eyed woman… the next she was flying backwards, her shields screaming from the effort of holding against a veritable wall of lightning that filled her entire field of vision.

_Not good, not good, not good! _She thought frantically. There really wasn't time for anything fancy if she wanted to live, so she simply plunged Raising Heart right into the approaching mass of energy and threw as much energy as she possibly could into it. The mechanisms in the staff rattled in a very unsettling way, and the cartridge feed drew in all the remaining rounds in the currently loaded magazine.

The bolt of pink light left the tip of the staff… except, much to Nanoha's dismay, it _didn't _leave the tip of the staff. Her spell made a valiant effort, but seemed to be having very little luck actually pushing back against the incoming attack.

_Still not good! _She thought. She could try to put more power in, but Raising Heart was already showing signs of strain, and she could feel a trickle of liquid down her back that told her that at least one of her wounds had opened again. _**Vita! Now would be wonderful! **_She screamed mentally.

Vita chose to oblige.

The hammer swung in at the mad mage, her attention totally absorbed in the enormous attack she was launching… and to Vita's great dismay, the shield was _still there, _the honeycombed wall of energy holding Graf Eisen at bay even as the _raketenform_'s spike attempted to bore through it.

_Oh, come __**on! **_Vita thought in deep-rooted annoyance. It was beginning to crack slightly, so the wall of light certainly wasn't as strong as it had been last time, but being able to maintain an attack of that level _and _hold a passable defense? That was just cheating.

"_Come on! Break through it!" _Vita roared, barely audible over the din even to herself.

**"Jahwohl!" **Eisen said, loading a cartridge and doing his master proud.

The light barrier exploded, the raw energy released hurling the combatants apart. Once she'd managed to right herself, Vita quickly scanned the skies for Precia, and, unfortunately, found her. The woman was hunched over and gasping for breath, much like Vita herself, but she wasn't nearly as dead… _no, no, __**unconscious, **__she didn't __**succeed **__in killing Hayate so we should take her alive… _as Vita would have preferred.

"Good job." Nanoha said, floating to take a position next to Vita.

"You think? Take a closer look." Vita said. "Look at her _eyes_."

"… ah." Nanoha said, seeing what Vita meant after a second or two. The shock seemed to have done her some good, because while Precia still looked distinctly unhappy, she also looked a great deal more… well, _sane. _"She's calmed down. We can't rely on her striking wildly anymore…"

"Yeah. Not sure I like the thought of her having thoughts." Vita said dryly. "Still, wasn't a wasted effort. Breaking a spell that powerful had to leave some pretty nasty back… lash…" Vita said, her voice trailing off as she saw a line of blood flowing down Nanoha's leg. A quick glance confirmed that the stain on her back was both larger and no longer dried out. "_What the Hell are you still here for?!" _She snapped.

"GAH! W-why are you yelling at me all of sudden?!"

"Your wounds have opened up! You tryin' to die?!"

"It's not that bad... only a bit of it opened. The bleeding is just a trickle, I'll be..."

"Bull! You clear out of here, or at least go to Shamal! I'll handle her by myself!"

Nanoha smiled sadly. "Even if I wanted to, do you think she would let me go?"

"… … … fine. But now I'm going to slap you _twice _after we kick her ass." Vita grumbled.

_

* * *

_

Raijin skittered harmlessly across the silver wall. Despite leaving a trail of crackling sparks along the magic barrier, the weapon did not penetrate nor even really crack the shield, and in fact picked up an unwanted hitchhiker… a mass of silver chains that snapped around the blade, attempting to restrict its movements. They broke easily enough, but the fact they were able to form at all was just one more sign to Susanoo that maintaining any sort of edge to Raijin was getting more difficult.

"You… you are getting _really _annoying. Didn't anyone ever tell you that good pets don't bite?" He growled.

Zafira raised one fist in front of himself in a ready stance. "Your insults are meaningless. Every strike you throw is weaker than the one before it. We both know it won't be long now."

"Yeah, you're probably not wrong. Guess that means I don't have any choice." Susanoo sighed in annoyance. "This is _really _going to hurt, but it should work… probably. Raijin, I need some range, okay?"

"**Artillery Form, stand by! If you're planning what I think you are, it's a bad idea!" **Raijin said, shifting to its cannon form.

"No, no, it's… well, okay, yes, it's a very bad idea. But it might work anyway." Susanoo said, leveling the weapon at Zafira and beginning to gather power. Not much, he didn't need much… and frankly, that was good because he had little left to give. It was times like these that those charge systems were a blessing; at least he could appropriate enough energy to get the job done even if he couldn't generate it himself.

Zafira watched cautiously. _Is he trying to focus his power to break my shields? No, even if that was the case, it doesn't make sense to try such a slow attack when we're this close together. A trap, like with Signum. Which means he isn't really aiming at me. _The barrel of the weapon was pointed squarely at Zafira's torso right _now, _but that would take all of a second to change once the attack was charged.

Fortunately, it would take less than that for Zafira to make sure the attack never finished charging. His body took on a faint silver glow, and he tensed his muscles.

Susanoo kept the weapon trained firmly, the most obviously telegraphed attack imaginable. _Please… please… __**please **__let this work! _He thought, just a tinge of desperation in his mind. Pretty much everything depended on Zafira trying to stop him before the shot went off. If the Familiar decided to try intercepting the blast after it was fired, he was essentially screwed… well, actually, there was a chance that he was screwed either way. But only the one option had any hope of success. _Come on, big guy! You don't know where I'm really aiming, right? Can't risk trying to defend, right? And I couldn't be a better target, holding the wrong sort of weapon and taking so much time to gather power! Come on, man, I'm giving you victory on a platter! Eat! _

The wolf lunged, and Susanoo tried not to smile. It helped that things had gone according to plan… the plan really wasn't very good, and needed all the help it could get. The Familiar's glowing silver fist struck home without the slightest resistance or attempt at defense, and when it did it released the shining aura as a coherent bolt into Susanoo's torso. At point-blank range.

The attack was surprisingly bloodless, considering the light went completely through him. Ah, well, that was magic for you.

Susanoo's eyes widened; he might not have a gaping hole in his chest, but he could taste blood in his mouth and darkness was already beginning to creep around the edges of his vision. He couldn't even feel any pain, but he'd taken enough wounds to realize that probably wasn't a good thing considering he had _heard _bone break. _If a bone breaks, and it doesn't hurt… that's bad, isn't it? Does that mean I'm in shock? Is that even possible? _He was pretty sure he had built-in systems to keep that sort of thing from happening, but he was also sure that he wasn't functioning correctly at the moment.

Fortunately, all that really mattered was that he still had just enough control left to raise his arms.

He clamped one hand onto Zafira's wrist, trying to hold him in place, even for just a fraction of a second. He then raised his weapon with his other arm and fired, trusting Raijin's sensors to do the targeting he was no longer able to do.

Zafira's eyes widened as the bolt flew through the air he himself had only recently vacated.

"Ha… ha…" the blue-haired boy chuckled with some effort. His numb fingers lost their grip on Raijin and it fell to the ground below, followed at a much slower pace by he himself; his flight spell was beginning to flicker out, and he was slowly descending whether he liked it or not. "Only had… one shot… so I needed you… to move, see? Couldn't risk you… blocking… since… right where I was aiming…"

Zafira's eyes widened further as he considered that he had been between Susanoo and... "Shamal!"

"… what's a Shamal?" Susanoo asked, admittedly no longer quite certain what he was saying. It was just that the blackness behind his eyes was growing, and he was finding it sort of hard to focus. _I should take a nap. Yes, that's good… _he thought, smiling in satisfaction at this stroke of genius as he fell from the sky.

* * *

The bolt of blue light struck its target.

"Eep!" Shamal squeaked as the air _next _to her exploded

Tsukuyomi floated out of the smoke, her face set in a mask of disapproval. This may have had something to do with the fact that, while she was not significantly harmed due to the now-dispelled bindings and containment fields absorbing the majority of the blast, her dress was still basically gone.

As she hovered in her underwear and a few charred rags, shifting a bit of fabric in an attempt to maintain modesty, one eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly. "Big brother, you _idiot_… shooting me is the best plan you could come up with? And this is… I am in _public _and you just… exactly which sister do you think I am? Oh, I am going to be _very cross indeed_…" she muttered.

Shamal stood ready, watching this… interesting display. "I may not be as dangerous as my companions, but you'll find I am not without my defenses. Attack at your own peril." She said simply. This was, perhaps, an exaggeration… she certainly wasn't _defenseless, _but against a real combat mage, she wouldn't have much of a prayer unless she could take them by ambush. Still, it wasn't wise to advertise that fact.

Tsukuyomi, however, did not appear terribly concerned. "Well, then I suppose I shall take you at your word. Please enjoy your defenses, because I have no interest in breaking them right this moment."

"… eh?" Shamal said eloquently.

"Suijin, you have the codes. Just… just send the signal I asked you for. Even I just want to go home, now..." She then turned to face Shamal, and said, "Oh, and by the way? You shall _not_ be getting a candy."

"…eh?" Shamal said again in mounting confusion.

Suijin sent the signal, using her command codes and Susa's to transmit an executive order. Tsukuyomi nodded in satisfaction.

It was a tad inelegant, but sometimes if you _really _wanted to clear out a gathering, you had to do something a little extreme.

* * *

It was the spear-point going most of the way through her midsection that made Signum realize she'd been just slightly too slow.

She was fairly certain that nothing vital had been damaged beyond repair… were she human, she'd have need of a new liver, but as a program she should be quite fixable. None of which meant it didn't hurt like Hell, of course. She coughed up blood and tried to grab the weapon to push herself off… ordinarily, ripping out a blade, especially such a jagged one, would be the height of idiocy, but allowing a weapon that could shoot fire from its tip to stay _inside_ her would be far more foolish… only to discover that Amaterasu had much the same idea; the difference being that she was choosing to dislodge Signum through the sheer inertia of _swinging her._

It was not pleasant.

In the crater that formed from her fall to earth, Signum did not stand up.

"Are you all right?" Chrono asked, landing behind her. Signum was impressed… there was more genuine concern in his voice than she would have given him credit for. She had only very vague memories of her life and masters before Hayate, but she had read the personnel files of Testarossa and her comrades… there hadn't been much else to do during the legal proceedings, after all. She knew what had happened to the boy's father. Even if she had not been _personally_ responsible, she and her fellow Knights were still involved enough that she wouldn't have thought less of him if he had blamed her for his father's death. It was a point in his favor that he was able to push past that. _Strong, like his sister. You'd never know they weren't blood._

Signum smiled tightly. "Fortunately, that weapon… seems to cauterize what it cuts. The bleeding is not as bad as it could be, and I'm... made of sterner stuff than a human. But I'm afraid… that I won't be much more help to you. You see, I seem to be unable to move…"

"That's fine. You've already done more than you needed to." Chrono reassured her.

"Honestly, I'm amazed she's held up as long as she has." Amaterasu said, looking down on them from above. "If she'd been at her best, this might have been a real problem. But in that condition... well, willpower will only get you so far. One down, one to go."

"Can you manage a retreat? Your own unit medic is close by." Chrono asked, ignoring the woman in the sky in favor of the one on the ground.

"If I was going to successfully retreat... it would have been quite some time ago." Signum said, closing her eyes in acceptance. "Just ignore me. She might not be very injured, but I think her stamina is waning too. If you hold nothing back, you could very well defeat her… but if you distract yourself defending me, all you'll do is get us both killed."

Again, the boy managed to impress her by not arguing the point, merely gathering his power and positioning himself between her and the threat. "I won't go out of my way, but I'll see what I can do about keeping her away from you. If you can summon up enough energy to move, use it to get out of here." He said.

Signum smiled at that. _A bit rough around the edges, yet, but he'll be a fine commander when he grows a little. _

"Brave boy." Amaterasu said, almost as if she was agreeing with Signum's own thoughts. "It's true I've used up quite a bit of energy. Who knows? It might be enough if you really push yourself. But if it isn't…" she said, swiping her blade through the air meaningfully.

Chrono's face remained carefully neutral as he prepared to attack. The blue-haired woman's muscles tensed to charge.

And then both of them practically jumped out of their skins as a great booming electronic voice totally ruined the atmosphere.

**"Self-destruct system has been activated. All remaining reserves in use. Time to detonation: One-hundred and eighty seconds from the time of this message." **The Colossus said as Tsukuyomi's reprogramming took hold.

Quite suddenly, the assorted warring mages became so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

"Big Sister?" Tsukuyomi shouted across the skies, perhaps more loudly than was strictly necessary. "We should begin evacuation. The remaining power reserves are only enough to fuel two to three more salvos of the main cannon, but that should be quite sufficient to obliterate everything within thirty to forty kilometers of the unit itself."

"_Tsukuyomi?! _What the _Hells _do you think you are doing?! _We are winning!_" Amaterasu snarled.

Tsukuyomi blinked. "I'm blowing up the battlefield. I just said that."

"You're disobeying our master's orders? How _dare _you?!"

"I'm not. Our orders were to activate the two Gates. We've done that."

_"And _to eliminate the Enforcer unit assigned to our case!"

"I think that once they explode, they will be dead."

"_They're not going to stay here for the explosion!" _Amaterasu replied.

"Oh." Tsukuyomi said. Everyone listening waited for several seconds, but she didn't continue.

"… … … … … Gaaaah! Unit, this is General Amaterasu, code 0012414192. Cancel self-destruct sequence _now!_"

"**Unable to comply. Detonation in one-hundred and forty-five seconds."**

"Unable... then Susa too?! No, of course, this was all his idea, wasn't it? _Gods above _he is going to pay for this…"

"Hmmmmm… partially. I thought of the good parts, though." Tsukuyomi said, after a moment's consideration.

"What is going on?!" Chrono asked, just _slightly _panicking.

"Why can't you cancel that command?!" Precia inquired just a second later, thought she sounded more angry than panicked. Possibly because she was angry.

"I've been outvoted. It's a security measure; in case one of my orders needs to be rescinded and I'm unable… my command access is higher than either of theirs, but not _both _of theirs. If they both authorized this command together, I can't countermand it." Amaterasu growled. "Send the pick-up signal, Kagutsuchi. We need to clear the area _now_."

"You cannot be serious! Order them to rescind their command! Victory is…" Precia began.

"Going to be blown to one of the deeper Hells in…"

"**Detonation in one-hundred and twenty seconds."**

"… less than two minutes. You want to stay here, be my guest, but I don't fancy my chances of getting those hard-headed kids to change their minds in that time." Amaterasu said bluntly. She then turned to Chrono and said, "You should withdraw your people, cutie. This isn't going to be pretty."

Chrono held one hand out, a blue circle igniting in his palm. _All right, people, I've signaled Amy to issue an emergency teleport. Get as much distance as you can in the meantime, just to be safe. _

_We're not going to try to take them?! _Vita snapped. _We can do this! Besides, how big a blast can it be?_

_Look behind you and slightly to your left. See that mountain range?_

_Yeah?_

_Now see the one that's half gone? That weapon was powered by the power core that's going to explode down there._

_…Oh. _Vita thought. _I… I thought that was just… you know, a smaller mountain…_

_I'm voting we do what Chrono says! _Nanoha chimed in.

**"Detonation in eighty seconds."**

_**Now! **_Vita chimed in, her position on the subject suddenly quite different now that she had a general idea of exactly how thoroughly things were going to be exploded. _We should do it __**now!**_

The by-now familiar black portal opened in the air. "All right, people, we're out of here." Amaterasu said. "_Hey! Testarossa! We're leaving, unless you fancy staying here to die! _Ugh, this whole situation is just humiliating… could someone go pick up the doofus? Oooooh, I am going to do stuff to _him. _Horrible stuff. Stuff he'll want to talk about in public even less than the stuff I normally try to do to him." She grumbled, floating through her escape portal with Precia following after a few seconds.

Zafira looked doubtfully at Susanoo. The boy was _out_. All he had to do was pick him up and…

Tsukuyomi flew in to confront him. "Eighty seconds," She said. "Is not a very long time. Particularly in combat, and _especially _when one side is actually _trying _to waste time…"

_Can you hear me, Zafira? _Hayate thought. Her mental voice sounded weak, but her tone was firm nonetheless. _Let them go. The teleport is synced up. _

Wordlessly, the Guardian Beast abandoned the battlefield.

Satisfied with this, Tsukuyomi descended to ground level to sling her unconscious brother over her shoulder and pick up his device, which helpfully went into its sealed form for her. It was really a rather polite AI as long as anyone but its actual owner was holding it.

She moved to enter the portal and explain to Her Majesty just exactly how they had managed to only do half their job, when yet another obstacle presented itself.

"Wait!"

Tsukuyomi narrowed her eyes. "Nanoha Takamachi. My usual patience for your ramblings notwithstanding…"

"My _what?!_"

"… this is, perhaps, a bad time."

**"Detonation in sixty seconds." **

"A _very _bad time."

"The others are already gone, I don't want to fight or anything like that. I just really need to ask you something. That woman… Precia Testarossa… is she your master?" Nanoha asked.

"I don't see how that affects anything…"

"Just answer!" Nanoha snapped. When Tsukuyomi's eyes widened at the odd tone, she said, "…Please." in a much softer tone.

"… if it matters to you that much, fine. The answer is 'no'. She is… I hesitate to even call her an ally, honestly. For the moment, we have convinced her that our goals are also in her best interests. That's all."

Nanoha sighed in relief. "That's… that's good."

"Why is it important? I understand she's been responsible for some fairly serious disasters in the past, but I didn't see any sign of them affecting your homeworld…"

"Because despite everything, I really don't think you're a bad person… but she is. So I feel better knowing that whatever you're trying to do, it wasn't _her_ idea." Nanoha smiled warmly. "It really makes me feel like there's still hope for you."

Tsukuyomi blinked. "You… you should stop that. I am not a 'good person', I am a soldier. My own morality notwithstanding, my duty comes first. You have _no idea _what I am capable of, what I am willing to…"

Nanoha smiled. "Really? Because to me, it looks like your duty just came second to family. Not something a heartless soldier would do, at least I don't think so."

Tsukuyomi's mouth opened, but she couldn't think of a valid response. The girl was, after all, perfectly correct. Logically speaking, she should have pursued the battle to its conclusion the instant she'd been freed, but she had chosen to withdraw, because… because…

_Because Susa was in trouble, of course. Masters come and go, but family is forever. But her majesty's orders are absolute, correct. But I couldn't lose my brother... but...  
_

"I… no, I don't…" She began.

"**Detonation in twenty seconds." **The downed Colossus said, shocking her out of her thoughts.

Nanoha's smile did not wane, though a touch of regret entered it. "I'm sorry I didn't see you much today… we'll talk again later, all right? Good-bye." She said, dissolving in a rain of white light as the _Asura _extracted her.

Tsukuyomi shook her head as if to clear out the confusing thoughts the girl tended to inspire, and passed through the portal with only a few seconds to spare. The black tear closed.

And in a brilliant burst of pure white energy, Dysval became even less pleasant to live on.

* * *

**Author's Note 2: This sequence, the one that has completely consumed the last several chapters, is _finally _over. I am very proud of it, actually, since it turned out much better than I thought it would... but it also turned out much, **_**much **_**bigger than I ever planned. It was originally supposed to be two, maybe three chapters. Instead it ended up being **_**six, **_**counting this one. Ouch. ****As proud as I am, I am so very relieved that it has finally ended.**

**And now I must somehow **_**top it. **_**And top it I must! This is roughly the halfway point, unless things spiral completely out of control and the whole story ends up way longer than I ever planned (which, as this sequence illustrated, is a very real and very scary possibility)****.**** I can't also let the halfway point be the high point of the story, I just can't! Now all I need to do is figure out how to actually pull that off. **

**Ahhh… but for now, I don't need to worry about it. I can just write a few nice breather chapters. I didn't have one planned, but maybe I'll throw in a scene with Yuuno and Arf hanging out again, just because they're so relaxing to write. Like going on vacation…**


	18. Battle Might Have Been Less Stressful

**Author's Note: To Jimmy C.: I was operating under that assumption, yes. I will, however, say that if you **_**hadn't **_**pointed that out, I wouldn't have bothered to double check and thus not noticed a related error that I **_**did **_**make in the prologue. So thanks. **

**Author's Note that has Nothing to do with the Story: So… um… **_**ViVid. **_**Without going too in-depth, I'll just say that**** I have mixed feelings about the series as a whole, but…****Chapters 8 and 9, especially 8. Wow. You guys really need to check that out, if you haven't already. Because of **_**Lutecia. **_

**Apparently, having her mother back has done some good, because she has changed a **_**lot **_**since **_**StrikerS**_**, and her new personality is… well, it's just **_**great**_**. It made me say 'What the Hell?!', but I said it with a huge smile on my face because it was just so **_**great**_**. **

**Basically; she was cool before. She's _awesome _now. I'm sort of hoping they'll wrap up this **_**ViVid **_**thing early so they can get started on **_**Mahou Shoujo Genki Lutecia.**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

**Chapter 17: Battle Might Have Been Less Stressful  
**

Chrono sat in a waiting room down the hall from the _Asura'_s infirmary with his head between his hands.

Nanoha patted him on the back reassuringly, as she had been every twenty or so minutes since they sat down in the waiting room together. By virtue of the fact that she was able to stand up and her bleeding had been stoppable, her injuries had been deemed light enough that she could survive on bandages and painkillers for the moment, at least until those in genuine danger were out of it.

The last mission had not gone as badly as it could have, but it had still gone pretty badly. Far, far too many people were taking up beds in sickbay, and for those who _weren't _the situation was no better. _They _were the ones who had to wait outside for some news as to what was going on.

Well, except for Vita, who had physically threatened one of the medics who had tried to make her leave, and who had settled for getting out of the way by literally hovering above Hayate. Nobody would trip over her if she was pressed against the ceiling, she'd reasoned. Nanoha had briefly considered doing the same, but Vita had also physically threatened _her _if she did anything to exert herself before she got her wounds more properly treated. Vita was a 'do as I say, not as I do' sort of person.

Zafira had gone to find an empty room in the crew quarters to rest, stating that worrying wouldn't help, and they would all be better served by tending to themselves and marshaling their strength on the off-chance they needed to defend the wounded from something. He was probably right, but frankly Nanoha couldn't focus on herself while other people were in pain. So she waited, Chrono choosing to keep her company… although as he had time to sit, review what had happened, and thoroughly and repeatedly blame himself for it, _she _ended up being the one keeping _him _company.

It had been nearly two hours. It felt like a lot more.

"It's all right, Chrono." Nanoha said softly, one of many little reassurances that had passed between them during the interminable wait. As the mission commander, Chrono was taking things harder than even she was, and that was an _accomplishment _because Nanoha was very, very good at blaming herself when someone else was endangered because she hadn't performed well enough.

He smiled at her, but there was no joy in the expression. "No, I'm afraid it really isn't. We were utterly outmaneuvered here. As much as I hate to admit it, if it weren't for mother and her reinforcements of… questionable legality… we would probably all be dead right now." He said, the first real

"We couldn't have predicted that they would have the kind of firepower they brought along. Or that…" Nanoha's eyes hardened. "… _she _would be there."

"Well, I can agree with that. There aren't many people I was expecting to see _less…_" Chrono sighed, rubbing his forehead. "The last thing we needed was more complications, and whatever else that woman might represent, she is a _huge_ complication."

"I wonder what her involvement is? They said she's not their master, but she's not exactly the sort to work well with others. She always struck me as kind of a control freak." Nanoha said.

"Maybe Tsukuyomi was lying."

"I doubt it. I… well, she's not very good at it. I think I would have noticed."

Chrono chuckled dryly. "I suppose you would have. And even more than that, they didn't really treat her the way I would expect from a defense program or familiar towards their master. You've seen the Wolkenritter around Hayate, Arf around Fate. But those three don't even seem to really _respect _Precia, much less _like _her. At times they went as far as giving her_ orders_." Chrono said.

Nanoha tried not to smile as a thought struck her. "Well… can you really blame them? Most people don't like her..."

"I can see that." A new voice said before Chrono could respond. The automatic door hissed open, and Vita stepped into the room, pushing Yuuno in a wheelchair. "_I _don't like her, and we only just met. Can't imagine getting to know her improves the situation."

Nanoha stopped trying not to smile, a bright and genuine grin emerging on her face. "Yuuno! You're okay!"

Yuuno smiled right back, instantly looking a little healthier as happiness took some of the pallor from his skin. "Yeah… I didn't take any physical damage, I was just totally exhausted. Once Miss Shamal didn't have to worry about keeping Fate alive and she was able to focus her attentions on me, it didn't take her long to get me on my feet again." He glanced at his wheelchair. "Well… you know what I mean. No magic whatsoever for at least two or three days, and I shouldn't try walking on my own power until tomorrow. Beyond that, I get a clean bill of health."

Vita smirked just a little smugly. "True Belkan healing spells work by restoring the target's magical energy first, so their own magic can help their body heal. Once Shamal was able to get this guy away from those fussy Mid medics and focus on him herself, he was fixed up in no time."

"And the others?"

"Well… it's lookin' like nobody's going to die. Signum took the worst of anybody, but she'll be fine. I've seen her live through worse... that old monster's too tough to go down to anything that doesn't kill her right off the bat. And even then I wouldn't be sure." Vita said fondly. "Testarossa and her familiar were... less certain. They should pull through, but if Shamal hadn't gotten to them out in the field and sent them back early, they might not have. And…" Vita's voice grew softer and took on a good deal more emotion. "… they said Hayate's legs are all right. I guess there were some worries that all that electric magic might have caused nerve damage, but she's… well, she still can't walk without performing a Unison, but at least she's not any worse off than she was before."

Nanoha smiled at this news, although secretly she had already assumed that the mere fact Vita had left the room had meant that Hayate, at least, was fine.

_Nanoha? _Chrono asked telepathically, a private link only to her.

_Yes?_

_Does she have tears in her eyes?_

_I think so._

_If I point this out, will she punch me?_

_Yes. Definitely._

_Good to know. _Chrono thought. Out loud he said, "Glad to hear it. We owe you and Hayate our lives, frankly. If she'd been seriously harmed…"

"If she'd been 'seriously harmed', then I would have ripped that Testarossa bitch's spine out with my bare hands. I don't care if we _are _supposed to bring them in alive, there are some things that just don't get forgiven." Vita said bluntly. "As things stand, I'm still calling dibs on her next time she shows up… but I'll settle for just hitting her until she stops moving."

"You'll have to get in line behind Arf. And me." Chrono said.

"And me." Nanoha said.

"… wow, now I kinda want to check out her case files. Must be interesting reading if she's ticked off this many people…" Vita said in wonder at the uncharacteristically aggressive reactions.

"Well, she... she had her reasons for most of the things she did. The Jewel Seeds, I could forgive that." Nanoha said. "But the thing that really struck us was the way she hurt Fate very, very deeply… physically, yes, but especially in her heart. I realize how horrible this sounds, but I think that when she disappeared, really we mostly felt bad that Fate was feeling bad."

Yuuno nodded sadly. "And in a way, that just made her seem worse, didn't it? Fate really did love her, despite everything, and she was able to turn her aside without a second thought."

Chrono summed it up. "She was a monster. Maybe she wasn't _always _one, but she was when we met her. To anyone who genuinely cares for Fate, Precia Testarossa's death was more of a relief than anything worth mourning."

"Well, to me, her life is an irritant." Vita said firmly.

"Irritant is a good word for it, I think. Actually, Chrono and I were just trying to puzzle out what her involvement could mean." Nanoha agreed.

"Well, like you said, she only has one goal, and it doesn't really seem to mesh with what we've seen of the enemy objectives." Chrono said. "Even if bringing back the _dead _were actually possible, how could a network of teleportation devices help?"

"Network?!" Yuuno interjected. "Then they managed to activate more of them?"

"Unfortunately, yes. A new one, _and _the last one they made an attempt on."

"No, no, no! I had a line into that one! Did you check the data feed in my quarters?! Is it still active?!" He snapped.

"Oh, that's right. Well, sorry to tell you this, but the signal from ship to surface was cut off awhile ago, so I doubt it." Chrono said.

"_Argh! _And I was learning so much, too, but now it probably won't even talk to me anymore… oh! I need to see what else I managed to download before the link was severed!" Yuuno said excitedly, attempting to stand up and dash to his quarters.

'Attempting' being the key word.

From his new position face-down on the floor, Yuuno said, "I'm going to need someone to wheel me there."

"This… this is just sad." Chrono said. "Someone help me deliver the ferret?"

"Sure, why not? Not like I got anything better to do." Vita said, slinging Yuuno over her shoulder like a sack of vegetables.

"ULF!" Yuuno said. _How nice that I've found a career that really lets me use my degree. _He thought dryly. "Um… Vita, while I appreciate you treating me like luggage…"

"Nah, I treat my luggage better than this." Vita said cheerfully, dropping him back into his chair with probably more force that was strictly necessary.

"URK!" Yuuno said. "… right… as I was saying before these lights started flashing behind my eyes… you don't _all _need to come to my room to look at my archaeology research. Don't you have official reports to file?"

Nanoha shrugged. "I doubt any of us will be able to concentrate until everyone in Medical is at least _awake _again. This is as good a way as any to distract ourselves, and some… relatively… fresh eyes to look over your research couldn't hurt, right?"

"Besides, between the sensor logs and our device downloads, the Admiral knows pretty much everything that happened anyway. I'm sure she's got a lot on her mind already, so we should let her digest the big events before we chime in with all the minutiae." Chrono said knowledgeably. "Yes, best not to burden her while she's engaged in such serious deliberation."

* * *

"Hmmmm…" Admiral Lindy said, her gaze fixed on the glowing screen and an expression of intense interest on her face. "Amy… do I want coffee or tea?"

"Eh?"

"I like tea more, frankly. But for big workloads like this, coffee just feels more 'professional'." Lindy said.

"Admiral, I… um, well, I was just going to say that Lieutenant Lexus at the Home Office sent you a communiqué during the battle, and now that we're off emergency channels you should probably listen to it."

"That's not the answer to the question I asked, Amy."

"I know. I was just a little surprised by the question, so I sort of… defaulted back to what I'd been planning to tell you anyway."

"What was so surprising about it?" Lindy asked.

"I'm just a little shocked by how… well, you seem to be a bit more laid-back than I expected, that's all."

"Hm?"

"Well it's just that the mission was a failure, and we've now we have to reopen the Jewel Seed case files, which besides everything else means that we're now contending with a SS-class dimensional criminal. The situation is degrading very rapidly and you don't seem… worried. At all." Amy said delicately.

Lindy smiled at Amy, and strangely enough, Amy could swear that she felt the temperature in the room drop several degrees. "It's funny you should mention that, Amy. You see, in addition to what you've already outlined, there's one other problem. My child… my _daughter… _is lying in the medical ward right now, with third-degree electrical burns over ten percent of her body. In addition, Miss Shamal has informed me that if she hadn't arrived when she did, it's very possible that Arf would have suffered a complete core matrix destabilization and simply_ faded from existence_, which would have left said daughter emotionally devastated and could have had any number of adverse effects on her own linker core. The damage might easily have been _permanent. _A permanent, debilitating _scar _on my daughter's magic, a wound on her _soul_ that would have been with her for her entire _life._"

"A-admiral…?" Amy squeaked.

"So you see, Amy, I am very deliberately suppressing my real feelings and reactions to this mission. Because if I showed how I was _really _feeling… well, that would be pretty scary." Lindy said. She was still smiling. That just made it _worse._

"I-I-I see…" Amy said. Despite Lindy's insistence that she wasn't being scary, Amy was discovering quickly that she was pretty scared regardless. She thanked her lucky stars that Chrono had never been seriously wounded in the line of duty and she'd never had to experience this before; hopefully all of Lindy's kids would be very, very careful for the rest of their lives and she'd never have to experience it again.

"You know, I've never killed a human being, Amy. There's any number of people in this service who have, but not me. Even back in the old days before I became an officer, when I was in the frontline combat units, I was always a support mage. My duties were sealing, enhancements, first-aid. I've never had to take a human life." Lindy said. "But I think I could, for my children. If I was pushed just hard enough, I really think I could."

"… … … …" Amy said. She tried to scream, but no sound came out.

"Also, I'll have tea. Green. Cream and two sugars." Lindy said cheerfully, turning back to her screen. "Hmmm, let's see, new messages, new messages… oh my. That could be bad. Amy?"

"Y-yes m-m-ma'am?"

"It seems I'm being 'strongly encouraged' to make a personal report. Inform the helm to set course for HQ, and tell Chrono I need to speak with him."

"Whatever you say!" Amy said, not _quite _running out of the room in terror.

Lindy blinked a few times in confusion. "She's a bit flighty today. I hope she doesn't forget my tea…"

* * *

Susanoo's eyes fluttered open. His limbs felt thick and sluggish, but there was no pain or nausea, suggesting that some repairs had been performed (Honestly, he understood the necessity of being able to feel pain, but sometimes it was damn inconvenient). When the blurriness faded from his vision, he confirmed this; someone had installed him into his repair crèche and activated it. His limbs were hard to move because he was suspended inside the black crystal as energy flooded his body and repaired the damage.

_Huh. We got home? That's good. _He thought. _Oh, look, my coat is back. Barrier Jackets are great. Everyone should have clothes that grow back._

Then the crystal flickered out of existence as it was forcefully deactivated from outside, sending him tumbling to the floor. That was less good.

"Ow… that's not a good way to wake up, yet it seems to keep happening…" He grumbled. Then he noticed exactly whose boots were in front of his face.

"O-oh. Good morning, sis…" He said to Amaterasu's feet. A quick glance confirmed that she was alone in the room with him, which meant that there were no possible sources of help. Not good. Maybe if he didn't _say _anything about it, Amaterasu would completely forget what he'd done. And perhaps he would spontaneously gain the power to turn marshmallows into diamond.

"Good. Morning. Little. Brother." Amaterasu said. She had a cheerful grin on her face, but her flat, mechanical tone indicated firmly that it was very, very fake. "How. Are. You. Feeling?"

"F-f-fine… um, how long have I been asleep?"

"Only. A. Few. Hours. It. Was. Mostly. Pure. Magic. The. Worst. You. Got. Was. Some. Skeletal. Damage."

"U-um… sis, you seem to be… talking a little funny…"

"You. Seem. Nervous. Why. Is. That?"

"W-w-well… I… can't help but get the feeling that y-y-you might be… furious…"

"What. Gives. You. That. Idea?!" Amaterasu said through gritted teeth, her smile growing noticeably strained.

"Well… I… um… sort of… _maybe _talked Tsuku into being insubordinate with me…" He began. So much for not mentioning it… he sighed and hung his head, not bothering to stand up on the basis that he would soon be on the floor again anyway. "This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

"_**You idiot!**_" She roared, stomping her foot into the small of his back. Hard.

"Gack!"

"I have two problems with you. Just two. Surprisingly few, I know, but you should be happy because I am not removing my heel from your kidney until I have shared them with you."

"… yay?"

"First, and foremost… you disobeyed orders. Not mine, I could overlook that. But you disobeyed a command from our _master_. You and Tsukuyomi used some… some idiotic rationalization to get around a direct order, and cost us a potentially decisive victory. Really? 'They will die in the explosion'? I mean really, I've heard some _sad _loopholes in my time, but you two have really outdone yourselves this time. And now our troubles have multiplied. You think we'll have another opportunity like this one? We aren't going to get lucky like this again, Susa. They aren't going to come at us in _waves _next time. We'll be outnumbered and outgunned by a huge margin, right from the start. I'm a goddess, not a miracle worker."

"Well… you're not _really _a goddeURK!"

"Still talking, hon." She said, almost casually grinding her heel in. "Where was I?"

"We're outnumbered now…" Susanoo said with a certain amount of effort.

"Ah. Yes. And it's _all your fault!_" She finished. "But that's only _one _thing I'm angry about. Second… and possibly even worse… _you didn't let me in on it_."

"… eh?"

"You think I won't disobey orders if the situation calls for it?! I am the _queen _of finding stupid loopholes! If I'd known you were getting brutalized over in the corner, of _course _I would have found some way to justify calling a retreat. But you didn't even tell me! Really, Susa, I'm hurt!"

"B-but you said…"

"That was when I didn't have all the information! And really, how often are what I say and what I _mean _the same thing?!" Amaterasu said.

"Not very oftURK!"

"Don't agree with me when I'm being self-deprecating! Be nice to your sister!" She said.

"I'm sorry? Um… you mean what you say… except when you don't… which is, um, always but never? I… I really don't know what you want me to say here…"

"Oh, nothing in particular. Just as long as you sound supportive." She said cheerfully. Then she ground her heel in again.

"URK! _Why?!_"

"Because it's fun." She said, her warm smile growing wider as she finally removed her boot from his spine.

"Um… then you forgive me?"

"Oh, Susa, really. How many times do I have to say it? I just can't stay mad at you. I'm not really _angry, _not anymore. Though I'll... admit to a little bit of confusion." She said, sitting down on the floor beside him. "A lot is riding on this operation, you know. This is our one shot at rebuilding the old Empire."

Susanoo smiled sadly, pulling himself into a sitting position and leaning his head on his big sister's shoulder. "You know I don't care about that. I never did. Don't get me wrong, I don't especially dislike the conquest and that, but ruling over a bunch of worlds I'll probably never even visit again just doesn't excite me. My Master... my family… a couple fun opponents I can use to keep my skills sharp… really, I don't need a whole lot to be happy, personally. I'll follow orders, but it's really hard to put my all into killing a bunch of people I really kind of like over something I don't even want."

"I… I suppose I understand that line of thought. It's very 'you'." Amaterasu admitted. "But could you please try? Even ignoring the fact that it's our duty… it would just make me feel better. Like we'd actually started to make up for the Fall."

"The Fa- _why would you even bring that up?!_ Whatever they wanted to call us, we're only bodyguards! We didn't make the Fall happen, we did everything we could to stop it, and _you _did more than the Tsuku and I put together!" He snapped. "I'm not going to sit here and let you blame yourself for something you couldn't have changed!"

"You're sweet. And right, of course. But knowing something in my head is a little different from believing it, you know?" Amaterasu said softly. "So please? If orders aren't enough to motivate you, then make it a personal favor to me."

"… fine. I'll try, if it's that important to you."

Amaterasu slid her arms around him and smiled. "Thanks." She said, pulling him close.

"Ummmm… you can let go now." He said after nearly a minute passed without her giving any signs of breaking the hug.

"Hmmmm… no, I don't think I can." She said thoughtfully.

Susanoo could not help but notice two things. One, all trace of the sadness and regret in her voice was gone. Two, her grip on him was growing considerably tighter. He was just lucky that he couldn't see the expression on her face, which was painfully reminiscent of a cat watching a fishbowl… prey that it _knows _it has already caught.

"… I should not have let you get this close." He said. It was not a question.

"Probably not." She purred.

"Could... you _please _not? We were actually having a moment here. Don't ruin it."

"Sorry. But when you just walk right into it like this, how am I supposed to resist?" She asked.

Outside and down the hall, Tsukuyomi was walking towards the regeneration chambers. Queen Enlil had been barely conscious after they had returned, and Tsukuyomi had taken it upon herself to carry the Queen to her bedchambers and watch over her to make certain she was in no lasting danger. It had not been easy; Enlil had been semi-delirious from exhaustion, but _just _lucid enough to notice how badly wounded her assault force was. Tsukuyomi had been forced to physically drag her from the room to prevent her fussing over Susa (or giggling like an intoxicated child at Precia, which was probably even worse. Thankfully their semi-ally had stormed back to her lab almost immediately and hadn't been in the room to hear _that_).

It had taken a bit of time to calm her down, but she was sleeping peacefully and didn't seem to have any legitimate injuries. This meant that Tsukuyomi, who _did _have some legitimate injuries despite the combat first-aid she'd administered to herself, was now free to see to her own wounds. She opened the door into the chamber.

Amaterasu, her jacket halfway off, was pinning Susanoo to the floor. She appeared, to the casual observer, to be nibbling on his ear. For his part, he appeared to have worn several small grooves in the floor in vain attempts to escape.

"… … …" Tsukuyomi said.

"Oh, hi Tsuku! We're just goofing around a bit, so don't mind us. You get some sleep, you're looking a bit pale." Amaterasu said cheerfully.

"Help!" Susanoo gasped.

Tsukuyomi considered the situation for a brief moment. "Big sister… what exactly are you planning to do?"

"Hmmm? Just normal family bonding." She said innocently. It was really quite impressive how she could manage to sound innocent in spite of being in possibly the least innocent situation imaginable.

"Well, as long as you don't do anything illegal I suppose there's no problem…" Tsukuyomi said after another moment's deliberation.

"_No problem?!_" Susanoo stammered.

"Oh, it's just a little cuddling and such. You know you love it." Amaterasu said cheerfully. "Ah, the pure and innocent love of an older sister…"

"It's hard to call it innocent when you tackle me and won't let go! And 'cuddling' doesn't leave teeth-marks, unlike whatever the Hells you're doing!" He yelped, making another impassioned yet futile attempt to escape. "Tsuku, help me out here!"

The youngest of the three guardians looked directly into her brother's eyes and gave one of her very rare genuine smiles. "Big brother…" she said "… you _shot me_. You may now consider us even."

Then, without another word, she stepped into an empty crèche, closed her eyes, and let the dark crystal materialize around her to begin repairs.

* * *

"No, _no_, _**no!**_" Yuuno said in despair, pounding a fist in frustration on his personal terminal.

"Bad news?" Chrono asked dryly.

"The link is completely severed! Not only can I not download any more data, the AI won't even _talk _to me anymore. And we were getting along so well…" Yuuno sighed.

"Sorry, Yuuno…" Nanoha said, patting him on the shoulder consolingly. She wasn't sure what to make of the fact that he seemed more upset about, basically, losing reading material than the fact that he'd almost died a few hours ago, but consoling came naturally to her.

"No, it's… all right." Yuuno said, though he couldn't quite keep from wincing when he said it. "I don't know how much more it could have told me anyway… it was an AI, but not really one made for data storage. Really, I would have preferred to have a few hours to sit down with one of those mages…"

"What _did _you find out, anyway?" Chrono interjected. "You seem unusually… driven, let's say."

"Well… hmmmm…" Yuuno said. "I don't really want to say."

"… and is there some _reason _why you are choosing to withhold information?" Chrono asked.

"You want me to hit him?" Vita asked nonchalantly. It was a little eerie, actually, not really an appropriate tone of voice for the act. '_Want me to get milk while I'm out? Want me to throw your socks in the wash? Want me to pummel a librarian?'_

"Yes, I do, but I'll give him the chance to explain himself first." Chrono said.

"Well, I guess it's nice that everyone is energetic…" Nanoha said in chagrin at this exchange.

"Sorry." Yuuno said, chuckling just a _little _nervously. "I just meant that I don't really feel comfortable talking about it yet. There's still a _lot _of data to analyze, and what I've already analyzed is sort of confusing. I'll probably have to go back to the Library for at least a day or two, and my aides have been conducting their own studies on those confiscated artifacts that I need to be briefed on… at this point, I still have more questions than answers. Not much point forming any theories until I have all the information, you know? Because frankly, what I know now makes a lot of sense on some levels and no sense at all on others. I don't want to explain it all and then have it turn out to be wrong."

Chrono considered this. "That makes sense, I suppose. Though you may still get hit, depending on the answer to my next question."

"Which is…?"

"During the battle, just after you stopped that blast, you said something very unusual, and it's been bugging me ever since I got a chance to stop and think about it. So please tell me, Yuuno… what precisely is 'pulling a Chrono'?"

"Um… do you really want to know?" Yuuno asked.

"Well, I _thought _I did until just now…"

"It's… um… when you…" at this point, Yuuno's voice descended into incoherent muttering.

"Speak up!"

"It's when you… try to do something that's way too hard for you… and then pass out…" Yuuno said.

"… … …" Chrono said.

"Are… are you angry?" Yuuno asked.

"… … …" Chrono said.

"You're angry."

"… … …" Chrono said.

Vita looked thoughtful. "Wouldn't it be better to call that 'pulling a Takamachi'?"

"Vita, _please _don't drag me into this!" Nanoha squeaked in protest.

"Yeah, you're right. You usually don't pass out, you just keep going on sheer stupid willpower." Vita agreed.

"Is it 'pick on Nanoha' week?" Nanoha sadly asked.

Vita enthusiastically clapped her on the back, nearly causing her to pass out considering that the only real medical treatment she'd so far received was some bandages and disinfectants. "Nah, that's a good thing! I respect determination."

Nanoha took several deep breaths to silence the pain. "Did you… do that… on purpose?"

Vita's smile became a tad sinister. "I respect determination, not stupidity. You may recall that I said I was gonna smack you after the fight for trying too hard? A knight always keeps her word._"_

"N-noted." Nanoha said just a _little _nervously. Really.

Yuuno chuckled a little. "Remind me to stay on your good side in the future, Vita..."

"You'll need all the help you can get." Chrono agreed. His tone made Durandal seem positively sweltering in comparison. "Considering how thoroughly you've managed to _avoid _my good side..."

Yuuno grew very, very pale. "Would it help if I said it was all Arf's fault…?"

Chrono groaned. "You know, Fate is actually integrating into the family quite well, but the more I get to know her _pet _the more I remember why I never made a familiar of my own… she's even more annoying than Lotte, and that takes some work…"

"Chrono? Your mother wants you on the bridge. Please, please don't make her wait. She's scaring me." Amy piped in over the ship's intercom.

"… Amy, I'm in a generally bad mood right this moment. Some decorum would help."

"Eh? Okay, um… Captain, Admiral Harlaown has asked you report to the bridge as soon as possible."

"Much better."

"So please hurry before you make your mommy worry." Amy said, and although they couldn't see her face they could _hear _the wicked gleam in her eyes.

"Amy, you _are _aware that I can cut your leave time for the year, right?" Chrono asked.

"… sorry, sir."

"That's better. Tell the Admiral I'll be with her shortly, and… oh, could you prepare the transport center for one beam-out? Scrya needs to head back to the Library shortly, and we might as well get ready for him."

"Um… that won't be a problem, since we're setting course for Headquarters anyway..."

"What? But wh- oh. Oh, no. Amy, _what _does mother want to talk to me about?"

"I thought we were using decorum."

"_Answer the question!_"

"I don't know, I don't know! Something about a message she got from the home office! What is it with Harlaowns being scary today?!"

"_Dammit!_" Chrono snarled, practically sprinting out of the room.

The silence he left behind was very thick indeed. It was Vita who finally broke it.

"This ship is fun." She said.

* * *

Enlil stretched her arms out and yawned. "Ugh…" A brief glance around confirmed that she was in her bedchambers and (for _some _reason) dressed in a small, sheer, lacy black _thing_ that was meant to be worn in bed, yes, but not really intended for _sleeping _so much as something she might have worn in the old days when her husband had managed to get her in a good mood.

Slightly more disturbing, she had no memory of synthesizing such an outfit when she acquired the rest of her clothing. Nor any memory of changing into it. Or even of entering her bedchambers.

"… how?" She asked of nobody in particular. Fortunately, even when _she_ wasn't talking to anybody, somebody could hear her.

"**Good morning, your majesty. How are you feeling?" **Yggdrasil asked.

"My head is killing me, but beyond that I seem to be all right. What happened?"

"**You lost consciousness upon retrieval of the assault team."**

"… not good." She said with a sigh of annoyance. "I knew that I was stretching myself a bit thin, but I didn't think I would actually pass out. I wish we had another way in and out of here, the current method is screamingly inefficient. …_ Wait. _How did I get into my bed? And who changed me into this thing?!"

"**Ocean unit, your majesty."**

"Oh, thank every god there ever was and a few of the ones we proved don't exist." Enlil said, letting out the breath she hadn't even noticed she'd been holding. Out of everyone it could have been, she was really the best choice. And it also meant that her… _unusual _new outfit had been a misunderstanding rather than a deliberate attack (Although it did raise the new and far more confusing questions of _where _and _why _Tsuku had acquired it). "And where are they now?"

"**Ocean Unit is undergoing repairs, and should be completed within the half-hour. Lightning Unit has locked himself in a vacant room and refuses to come out. Flame Unit has completed her repairs after being electrocuted by Lightning Unit.**"

"… and he electrocuted her _because?"_

"**His exact words on the subject were, and I quote: 'There is a certain amount of creepiness I'm willing to put up with, and you've exceeded that for the day'. To which Flame Unit's exact reply was: 'I was just playing around, you little jerk! I wasn't actually going to **_**do **_**anything… unless, y'know, it seemed like you were into it'. To which Lightning's exact reply was, 'Why the **_**hells **_**would I be **_**into it **_**you lunatic?!**_**'. **_**To which Flame's exact reply was 'I don't know, you could have electrocuted me earlier if you'd **_**really **_**wanted to get away, I thought you were just playing hard-to-get'. To which Lightning's exact reply was-"**

"I get the picture." Enlil said, not entirely sure whether she should be laughing or crying. On the one hand, her elite royal guard acting like childish morons was always cause to make her depressed, but… gods, Yggdrasil simulating their voices for a blow-by-blow replay of their idiocy was just _so absurd _it was hard to keep a straight face. _Focus on business, Enlil, that's good. Don't burst into tears __**or **__giggles, either would be highly undignified._ "So… how did the mission go? I'm afraid my memory is a bit fuzzy."

"**All primary objectives completed. All secondary objectives failed."**

"What? Then that means they couldn't eliminate the enforcer unit? That's unexpected…"

"**According to their reports, a second enforcer unit of comparable ability intervened."**

"… what."

"**A second enforcer unit of comparable…" **The computer obediently repeated.

"I heard you the first time! This is just… ugh. I should have anticipated this. We haven't caused any actual fatalities yet, and I'd hoped that would be enough that they wouldn't bother to bring in additional resources. But with all that's happened... how could they _not _reinforce their position?" Enlil sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Not good. I… still, there's certainly enough high-yield weaponry lying around. I'm certain I could manage another portal like the one from today, maybe even a few at…"

**"Absolutely not. This operation was a greater stress on your abilities than you led us to believe, and overdrawing your powers is _extremely _dangerous. Now that I am aware of the genuine danger of your actions, my programming will not allow me to permit you to endanger yourself in such a manner again. You are the only person on this world who is **_**not **_**expendable, master. The throne **_**cannot **_**be empty."**

"… fine." She said, knowing better than to argue. Yggdrasil could only disobey her orders if it judged them to not be in her own best interests or the best interests of the Empire as a whole; and if it made that judgment, changing its mind was an exercise in futility. "Then what are the odds of success if we try to implement Operation Rebirth with only three Gates? Because our chances of activating a fourth just fell to near zero."

"**As of now, the odds of successful retrieval are somewhere between 60.3% and 72.8%. I apologize for the wide range, but I am afraid that the involved technology and processes are largely untested, particularly on the scale we hope to achieve. As such, many variables cannot be accurately accounted for, making predictions more difficult as more data, and thus more unknowns, enter the equation."**

"Well… we might have no options but to go ahead and hope for the best." Enlil said. "At the very least we managed to push it to over fifty… success is 'probable' instead of just 'possible'."

**"There… may be another option."**

"Eh? Out with it, then, I'm open to suggestions."

**"Flame unit received a package for you. A message, more precisely." **Yggdrasil said. "**She left the device on your nightstand after I confirmed that is nothing more than a data storage unit. But… while the item itself is completely harmless, the source is utterly untrustworthy and has in fact demonstrated hostility in the past." **

Enlil turned to the small table by her bedside and spent several seconds staring intently at the small black card. "Hostility? You don't mean…"

**"Indeed. It was given to her by representatives of the unknown third party that attempted to abduct two of your guardians during one of the previous operations."**

"They introduced themselves with unprovoked attack and attempted kidnapping… and now they want to _talk?_"

"**Uncertain… I have not accessed the data on the unit, merely made certain that no traps or viruses of any sort were present. But my current working hypothesis would suggest that it indicates a desire to negotiate."**

"Hmmmm… it's a bit unorthodox, but…" Enlil said, twirling the card between her fingers. "… it never hurts to look."

She gave the tiny sliver of black metal a small smile.

* * *

**Author's Note 3: You know, Amaterasu is my own original character. I am the only person who has ever written her, and every line of dialogue she speaks is my own personal creation. You could argue that she, like all original characters, is a 'part' of me. And **_**that**_** thought has left me a little scared of myself.**

**Fun trivia? Susa and Tsuku are much like I'd always planned them to be, but my original image for her was muuuuuch different. She was going to be sort of the 'team mom' to the other two; very warm and affectionate, but also much more mature than them and the one to call them out on their eccentricities. Then I recognized two things: **

**1) Enlil already filled that role pretty effectively, so that would make Ammy redundant. **

**2) When I pictured her in my mind, she was just Sephiria Arks from **_**Black Cat. **_**And I didn't like that. Felt like stealing.**

**So I rolled up my sleeves, took a good long look at her, and said, 'let's see how **_**wrong **_**we can make this character. Let's make that warmth and affection as creepy as possible. Let's take that frustration with their goofiness and lace it with hypocrisy by giving her 'quirks' that are_ worse_. Let's **_**crazy her up**_**'. I may have gone too far...**

**EDIT: Or, judging by the reactions I've gotten so far, I may have gone _exactly far enough_. Hooray for Refuge in Audacity!**


	19. Necessary Measures

**Author's Note: So****, upon looking back through a few chapters and the prologue, I realized that the 'gods' were in fact too **_**young**_** for certain plot points that will come up later to make sense. So anyone who read the last arc when it was first posted and then re-read it a little later, you aren't hallucinating; they really did get a few centuries older in between. Blame my lousy math skills.**

**Author's Note 2: HA! Here I was, all worried that Amaterasu was too creepy, but from the responses I got it looks like she's _exactly creepy enough_. I suppose I should have considered that my audience is composed entirely of anime fans, and they have therefore seen far, far worse.  
**

**Chapter 18: Necessary Measures  
**

Chrono burst onto the bridge and snapped, "_What happened?!"_

Lindy's eyes widened. Considering she'd nearly jumped out of her skin, it was an impressive show of emotional control that this was her only visible reaction. "Chrono. _Relax_. We've just been asked to take a detour to headquarters. It's… probably not important."

"Probably not…?! Admiral, we both know there are only two reasons we could possibly be…"

_And neither of them should be discussed out loud. _Lindy chided him.

_And telepathy is safe?_

_I'm switching the frequency every thirty seconds. As long as we don't talk long, that should be enough._

_All right, quickly then. What is this about? Did someone puzzle out the Wolkenritter, or is it good news?_

_Have you seen the reports from the guard team at the Gate site we had under our control?_

_No, not yet. I know that they came under assault, unfortunately, but not the details. Why, what…_

_Two of the cyborgs that attacked Nanoha and Fate assisted in the assault on the team. They completely ignored the other hostile to focus entirely on our unit._

_**What?!**_

_Volume, Chrono._

_Sorry, sorry. It's just… last time, it was almost the exact opposite. They were going right for the enemy, and seemed interested in Nanoha and Fate only in terms of eliminating witnesses. What changed?_

_I don't know. I'm hoping that's what this is about._

_Ah. And if it… isn't?_

_That's why I called you up here, just to make sure you were prepared for the worst. It's entirely possible that the Wolkenritter… situation… has come to light. And if that's the case, things could go south very quickly. If I can't talk my way out of it, I'll take full responsibility to spare the crew, Hayate and her knights from the fallout. You need to be ready to resume command of this operation, if you have to. _

_They wouldn't __**actually**__…_

_Of course they would. I knew I was taking a risk. The only reason I didn't ask Hayate and company to accompany you from the beginning of the mission was that I didn't want to bring them into this at __**all**__ if I could avoid it. _Lindy replied. _Depending on who found out what, I might very well be in for some sort of punishment. Worst case scenario, I could potentially be stripped of my rank, even prosecuted._

_We'd be dead if you hadn't recruited them!_

_Which will be a point in my favor. _Lindy agreed. _But you know as well as I do that a lot depends on who's conducting the hearing. Some of my esteemed colleagues in the upper ranks are very reasonable and forgiving, some are…_

_Enormous jerks?_

_I would chastise you for that comment if this conversation weren't private. _Lindy thought, trying not to smile.

_If this conversation weren't private, I would have phrased it differently. _Chrono agreed. _I would have said something like 'I feel that the officers in question may have the tendency to interpret certain regulations too stringently, which can occasionally lead to those regulations being to the detriment, rather than the benefit, of the Bureau as a whole'. I know how to sound polite without actually being polite._

_Oh, Chrono, you really __**are **__learning how to be an officer. _Lindy thought proudly.

* * *

"So what do you think?" Enlil asked.

"This is a trap." Susanoo said bluntly.

"Oh, I don't know. They seemed like nice enough death machines; they had a clean shot at my back and didn't take it." Amaterasu said cheerfully. "It can't hurt to see what they want. Who knows? We might get something out of it."

"And you think they'd just offer to help out of the goodness of their non-existent hearts?" Susanoo asked. "Anyone who uses disgusting puppets like those things to fight for them can't be trustworthy."

"Well, obviously they want something from us too. And no, I don't think we should just blindly trust their word. But it's not as if they can get to us here, or as if they can do anything to counter us if Rebirth goes smoothly." Amaterasu pointed out. "Tsuku, what about you?"

"… provided we anticipate and prepare for treachery, I see no reason not to at least speak to them." Tsukuyomi said. "It isn't as if we have to agree to anything."

Susanoo sighed. "Fine, fine, guess I'm outvoted this time. Go ahead and see what they want, Lil."

Enlil's eyes narrowed.

"Er… not to say that my vote matters. Because clearly it was always your decision to make. Your majesty." He said quickly.

"That's better." She held the card up, flat on her palm, and looked at it expectantly. "… I don't suppose your new 'friends' mentioned how to turn it on?"

"They weren't big talkers." Amaterasu said.

"Hmmmm… activate? Execute? Set-u… oh, that one did it." She noted, as the small metallic object took on a soft blue glow. Rather than an actual message, it projected an image of what appeared to be nothing but random colors swirling in a cloud, with small pinpoints of light scattered throughout it. "A dimensional map? But there are no coordinates. What good is that?"

The major problem with attempting to map dimensional space was the fact that dimensional space tended to change. All the time. Oh, things as large as habitable dimensions tended to stay in _roughly _the same place, but there was nothing that did not shift a little bit in the enormous sea of random energy that made up the space between those dimensions. The numerical coordinates assigned to worlds were almost a spell in their own right, a magical equation that locked onto that world's unique magical signature to allow travel via ship or teleport. As a result, a map _without _those coordinates included was of dubious value.

"We have the search magic that's been running to find the Gates, right? That seems to work pretty well. We could re-purpose it for mapping." Amaterasu suggested. "Or compare this to the map in the archives. It won't be much use, but it might be enough to start with. Or we could try sending one of us through, to act as an anchor for a more intense search magic. Or…"

Tsukuyomi got up on her tip-toes to whisper something into Susanoo's ear. He shrugged and reached his hand into the display, which reacted by causing a small series of numbers to appeared above one of the points of light in the simulated dimensional sea.

"… or we could poke it." Amaterasu said, sounding a little annoyed that none of her great ideas would be used. "Yeah, let's do that. Because _that's _exciting."

"The card is keyed to the magical signatures that they've been able to study… mine and big brother's." Tsukuyomi said. "They wanted to be sure that only we could activate it, so it would only provide the full contact information to one of us…"

"Oooooh. Well, it's a bit boring, but that was a good catch, Tsuku." Amaterasu said. "How did you notice it?"

"Notice what?" Tsukuyomi asked.

The silence that fell was thick indeed. The worst part was how _genuinely confused _she sounded.

"… right then. Let's see what's at these coordinates." Enlil said, deciding that it was best not to go too far into _that _line of thought. "Just a small look at first, not enough to set off any sensors…"

She extended her hand into the air, and opened a portal. But rather than a full-sized opening suitable for traveling through, it was only a tiny black spot that would have had trouble fitting even a small insect. A scouting portal, large enough to send a spell through, but hopefully too small to be picked up by long-range sensory equipment.

The card in Enlil's other hand began to glow far more brightly, and the map it was projecting vanished. The device itself began to hover of its own volition seconds later.

Enlil cast the slip of metal an unconcerned gaze. "Yggdrasil?"

"**Reaction detected, but there are no signs that it is dangerous."**

**"**_**Oh, it isn't.**__" _The card said. The accent was cultured and polite, but beyond that the voice was distorted so heavily that little could be told about it, not even the gender or age of the speaker. "_**It's simply responding to a communications link that opened when our probe on-site detected your portal opening. It is coming through clear, I assume? We've had to bounce the signal through several different relay points to insure it could not be traced. It shouldn't be a problem, but even the most advanced technology isn't always reliable."**_

Enlil arched one eyebrow. "That is a tremendous amount of effort to go through just for a conversation."

"_**That it is."**_

"And yet you seem to have gone to it, mister... or miss... I'm sorry, but you really do have me at a disadvantage here. At least introduce yourself."

"_**My title is 'Director'. From what little we've managed to glean from your agents, yours would be 'your majesty'? You'll forgive me if I don't call you that, it would simply make me feel ridiculous."**_

Enlil chose not to mention that he or she was, if their situation mirrored her own, speaking to a talking square disc of metal that floated in the air, and wasn't the ridiculous all on its own? She chose instead to ask "Might I ask what you are the Director of?"

"**_Oh, nothing that you need to worry about. We do enjoy our anonymity, and we've suffered too much exposure recently as it is. Let us simply say that our humble organization has taken a vested interest in your operations, and leave it at that."_**

"Given the level of funding you seem to have, I'd guess 'humble' isn't the best word to use, but I'll ignore that for now. Instead, I vote we cut this delightful chat short and have you explain exactly why you've gone to the effort of... frankly, any of the things you've done, because most of them strike me as both costly and difficult_."_**_  
_**

_** "Straight to business, then?**_**" **The voice said, and even through the electronic alterations, the amusement shone through,_** "Fair enough. Let's talk business."**_

* * *

Fate's eyes fluttered open.

God, was _that _a mistake.

The lights in the infirmary were dim and gentle, but even that much felt like someone was taking a power drill to her skull. She snapped her eyelids shut immediately, and tried to bury her face in her pillow before recognizing that she was secured to the bed and couldn't roll over.

She was vaguely aware that there was something she should be worrying about right now. It was important. But her thoughts were so fuzzy, there wasn't a single part of her body that didn't hurt, her exhaustion was bone-deep, and the bed was very, very soft. Still, maybe she should try anyway, just to make certain that something important wasn't happening without her there to help... she could just open her eyes, ignore the pain, it wasn't _that _skull-splitting...

A familiar feminine voice said, "Good, good... she's accepting the treatments well. Klarer Wind, if you don't mind." Soft green light shone above her, easily noticeable even through her closed eyes. Rather than pain, however, this new light brought with it a deep sense of relief... and with the diminished aching, a realization that she was actually far, far more tired than she'd previously thought.

She briefly considered trying to think about the important thing that had happened despite this, but the last straw came when she realized that she could hear Arf's distinctive breathing in the cot next to her. _Oh. Arf is here. Everything must be all right, then. _She thought. Satisfied with this logic, she allowed herself to drift back into sweet oblivion.

Arf smiled in her sleep, and never really knew why.

* * *

Yuuno turned in the corridor, leaving Lindy and Chrono to continue to their hearing. Fortunately he'd had a few hours to scrounge, so he'd been able to come up with an automatic wheelchair to replace the cheap one that needed to be pushed. "I'm headed this way… you're sure you don't need me for anything?" He asked.

The three had disembarked at Fleet HQ; Chrono and Lindy for the Admiral's personal report, and Yuuno to continue his trip onward to his real posting in the Infinity Library. After making a brief trip together, they were now preparing to part ways for the immediate future.

"Well, there is one thing." Lindy said with a smile. "We need you to learn as much as you can, as quickly as you can, and get back to us."

Yuuno smiled at that. "Well, after the last few days, it will actually be a bit of a relief to have my nose buried in a book. Though I'm sure that feeling will fade once I see what a mess the place has become without me… not to say that it wasn't a mess when I was there…"

It was at this point that the Harlaowns couldn't help but notice that he wasn't smiling anymore.

"… and even if the data I'm looking for exists, the odds are that it's buried under who knows how much useless junk… finding the information on the Book of Darkness was simple in comparison, considering that what I'm looking for now is both older and _much _less specific… and I don't even know if the half-baked theories I have now are close to correct, they might very well mean nothing, which would mean I'm basically working off of nothing here…"

It was at this point that the Harlaowns couldn't help but notice that he didn't really look all that healthy anymore. He seemed to be rather paler than he should have been.

"And I can't handle any of the search magic myself. No, worse... I can't even walk yet. I'll need to _delegate almost everything_. Oh, God, I need to trust my _staff _with most of the work, and they're not really scholars… half of them are just university students working to pay off their tuition, they barely even know what they're doing. You know, when I took this job, the clan elders laughed at me when I told them about it? They laughed so hard, and I didn't know why. Now I do, though... ha... ha... ha..."

It was at this point that the Harlaowns couldn't help but notice that he didn't really look _alive _anymore. His laughter sounded like a funeral dirge.

"Ah, well… back to the grind…" Yuuno said dully, rolling away. He appeared to have a small cloud of darkness around him that sucked the joy from everything he passed, even things that one wouldn't have expected to have their own joy.

Lindy and Chrono watched him go in silence.

"He might need a vacation." Chrono ventured.

"Couldn't hurt." Lindy agreed.

"So, moving on." Chrono said, taking approximately thirty seconds to file Yuuno's situation away under 'not really important' and moving back to the matter at hand. "Do we have any idea what to expect from this hearing."

"Not a clue. I haven't even been told who's overseeing it." Lindy said, concern entering her voice. "And that worries me. It's like they're intentionally trying to keep me off-balance. Best-case scenario, this is a covert method of passing sensitive information my direction."

"Worst-case?"

Lindy fell silent for several seconds. The Hearings Chambers were the only part of the station that nobody had any reason to go to without some sort of appointment, so the only sound in the corridor was the echoing footsteps of the mother and son as they walked. Finally, she said, "Well… in the absolute _worst_ case scenario, I shall need you to break me out of prison. I'm sure you can handle it, you're a very bright young man."

"… I'll think about it." Chrono said, after another few moments of almost-silence.

They came upon the doors to the tribunal chamber, and without preamble, marched in.

Chrono realized immediately that whether things were about to go well or poorly, whatever was happening now was _very _important.

The hearing chamber was surprisingly simple; it wasn't a formal courtroom, after all, just a meeting chamber. It looked more like somewhere that the board of directors of a business might meet than a place that a military trial would occur. But the three-person tribunal Lindy was reporting to more than made up for _that. _Well, actually, only one of them did.

The first was a red-haired man roughly five times Chrono's size. He was wearing the blue uniform of the Fleet, like Chrono and Lindy, the difference being that his muscle mass seemed sufficient to turn the uniform into rags if he breathed too hard. His absurd beard made it hard to be sure, but he didn't seem to be smiling.

The second was even stranger. She was a small woman, with slate grey hair in spite of features that did not really give the impression of age; it was hard to be certain, but if Chrono had to guess he'd have said she wasn't much more than ten or eleven years older than his mother. Her face was carefully expressionless, but her eyes… Chrono almost instinctively moved his hand closer to Durandal when she cast her equally grey eyes on him, because he knew enough to know when he was being studied for weaknesses. Even more unusually, she was wearing what appeared to be a black men's suit rather than the uniform of any branch of the Bureau military. A civilian? But that made no sense.

But what really sealed the deal was a woman of similar hair color but much more obvious age seated at the head of the table.

_Is… is that Admiral Mizetto?! _Chrono thought, eyes wide. There was no mistaking _that _face; Mizetto Kuroobero, one of the legendary 'Three Admirals' who had been with the TSAB since the beginning, the chief of staff for the entire organization. She was not smiling, which looked very out of place when Chrono considered that he had never seen even an image of her _not _smiling. She always, _always _wore that warm, dignified, 'grandma who just baked a pie' smile on her face. The fact that is wasn't here now was probably a bad sign. _The fact that the chief of staff is here at all is 'probably a bad sign'! She wouldn't be in the room if this wasn't major! _Said the portion of his mind that screamed at him when he had stupid thoughts.

"Admiral Lindy Harlaown. Step forward." Mizzetto said.

Lindy did so. The atmosphere was so hostile that Chrono had to fight down the nearly reflexive urge to stand in front of her and shield her with his body.

"Recently, several convicted felons entangled themselves in a small-scale dimensional incident, in clear violation of their parole. You are here because this incident was in your oversight, and there is suspicion that the criminals in question were acting under your orders. This is a very serious matter, and the purpose of this tribunal is to assess the situation and determine the appropriate response and subsequent punishment."

"With all due respect, sir…" Chrono began.

"Captain Harlaown, please refrain from any further outbursts. You will have the opportunity to testify in Admiral Lindy's defense at the appropriate time." The admiral said, not angrily, but with enough force that Chrono shut his mouth.

"Now, it should go without saying that this conversation will be recorded." The large man on the left said, gesturing to a small card on the table in front of him; his device in storage mode? So he was a mage, too. "Admiral Harlaown, you are formally accused of aiding and abetting in the escape from Bureau custody of convict Hayate Yagami. For those who may not be aware, Miss Yagami is a confirmed criminal with the exclusive loyalty of a small unit of elite mages, each of whom also possess an extensive record of violence against both this institution and a number of non-administered worlds. She and her followers have been in custody for the last six months, with discussion ongoing as to the nature of their eventual sentencing. Earlier today, they eluded their observers and left Mid in clear violation of their limited parole, only to reappear shortly thereafter at the site of an incident-in-progress. This incident, it must be noted, was a full-scale combat incident under your command, Admiral Harlaown. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty by reason of extenuating circumstances." Lindy said without hesitation.

"Noted." The admiral said. "We shall now listen to your testim… oh, never mind." she said, cutting off suddenly as the device in front of the man on the left blinked green and said **"All clear, boss."**

"Wait, what?!" Chrono asked in confusion. "What do you mean never mind?!"

The man chuckled, a deep rumbling laugh that made Chrono's teeth vibrate. "Ease up, kid. Just needed to make sure nobody was listening in, and setting up a jamming field that I could really be confident in took some time. Sorry about the charades, but it's very important that nobody knows why you're actually here. Though I _guess_ we could still pronounce sentence on your mom if you want us to. Chief, you want to announce Lin's punishment?"

"Very well. Admiral Harlaown, you have been _very _naughty. That is a bad, bad girl. You are hereby ordered to go to bed this evening without any dessert at all." Admiral Mizetto said solemnly.

"You monster!" Lindy said with mock outrage.

Chrono responded to this exchange in the only manner that seemed appropriate. "... ... ... huh?"

* * *

"Worth it?" Enlil asked. "That's a rather bold claim. You make it sound like I'm interested in acting for your benefit, when the fact is that your actions thus far have not exactly given me a real reason to trust a single word you say."

"_**Ah. Yes. Allow me to apologize for that… unpleasantness. The result of an unfortunate combination of misinformation and insufficient pre-mission planning time." **_The voice from the card said.

"You _apologize. _Considering that the 'unpleasantness' in question consists of theft and attempted kidnapping, it's a bit hard to take you seriously."

"_**Please consider that the damage your operatives inflicted to my own was not inconsiderable. Believe me when I say that we have paid for our actions, and I mean that in the most literal way possible."**_

"My operatives are more valuable than yours." Enlil said. "But since your puppets didn't do any permanent harm, I might be willing to overlook this unfortunate event. Depending, of course, on what you want _now."_

"_**What I want?" **_The voice from the card asked. _**"Well, that depends on a few factors. You are attempting to engineer a major dimensional disturbance event of some sort, correct? Preliminary analysis of the artifacts you've unearthed suggests as much. Before any real negotiations can take place, I need to know your **_**exact**_** purpose."**_

"In other words, you want to make sure we're not going to cause too much mass devastation?"

_**"That's a bit simplistic, but generally speaking, yes. Stability is good for everyone."**_

"Well, rest assured that I agree with that sentiment completely. I have absolutely no intention of unleashing wholesale slaughter upon the masses or anything tedious like that." Enlil said with a slightly bitter smile. "We just want our home back. It's not any more complicated than that."

"_**You would be shocked how little that information helps. Be specific, please."**_

"… fine. As I'm sure you've guessed by this point, we are operating from a position within the dimensional void. The uninhabitable area beneath common dimensional space, and…"

_**"The final resting place of objects that are lost in dimensional dislocations."**_

"Yes, that would be the case. Unfortunately, the object that was 'lost' in the tremor in question was our entire world, the capital of our entire civilization." Enlil said.

_**"Certainly there have been a fair number of worlds lost to such events. The myth of Al Hazard comes to mind..."**_

Enlil did not visibly react to the words 'Al Hazard'. A cynical person might have claimed she reacted far _too _little, but such a person would have been very cynical indeed.

_**"... though this is the first I've ever heard of one actually coming back."  
**_

"Well, it isn't back yet. It's _here_, in exactly the place where it has been floating lifelessly, for far, far too long. A small portion of the population managed to get to shelters, but they had no way to escape and most eventually… passed."

_"__**Most?**_"

"Yes, _most_. It's… difficult to be certain of the exact number, but… we have reason to believe that a small portion of the populace might still be alive. In suspended animation, in shelters scattered across the planet. Not many… maybe only a few thousand, out of a planetary population of about four billion." Enlil said, her voice taking on a certain desperate tone. "But isn't that _enough? _Even a few thousand is a viable population if we're careful with breeding. We have enough to _start over_… if we can get them _out _of this hell alive." Enlil said, her voice filling with passion, sounding on the verge of tears.

It was just as well that the individual on the other side of the link didn't know her, or he'd have been aware she had been able to cry on command even before she'd really gotten into politics and received professional training in the art of lying convincingly. It helped that, in this particular case, the lie was both more likely to inspire sympathy and a great deal more pleasant than the truth; while there really had been small pockets of survivors here and there, they hadn't had access to the resources that would have let them eke out a living, and in all the chaos none of the automated systems had noted their locations.

Those were _her people,_ and they had died, lost and alone in the dark. Not all of the sadness in her tone was false.

"We'd long ago lost all hope of escape, and most of the world went dormant in hopes of... well, let's not mince words, we were holding out for a miracle. We never really expected one to happen, but evidently whatever gods might still exist out there were not entirely done with us just yet. It took a very, very long time, but eventually something workable showed up."

_**"SS-threat level dimensional criminal Precia Testarossa. She fell through the cracks in subspace, and landed right in your lap." **_The voice said thoughtfully. "_**I'd comment on how unlikely that is, but considering that my latest reports feature her alive and in your care, it seems that it really wasn't very unlikely at all."**_

"She was the one who gave us limited access to the outside, and the one who gave us a hope of making it more permanent… once we managed to tame her enough to reach an agreement." Enlil said wryly. "My compliments to your culture, by the way… people used to call me a genius, but it would have taken me decades to work out some of the spells she's provided. I'm just lucky I was intelligent enough to figure out how to _use _them."

"_**She has a reputation to that effect." **_The individual on the other end of the link agreed. "_**Unfortunately, as so often happens, her legitimate brilliance is ****coupled with a deeply disturbed mind, and as a result her more unsavory dealings have become better known than her less 'psychotic' works."**_

"She _is_ a difficult person to work with."

"**_And in that respect, I am beginning to fear she has something in common with you. I am forced to notice, ma'am, that you are attempting to hide certain details from me. Certain bits of information appear to be absent from it, is what I mean."_**

"… and those would be?" Enlil asked, her tone going positively glacial.

"_**The Time Space Administration Bureau is, among other things, well-known for humanitarian efforts to imperiled civilizations, particularly magical ones. Negotiating truces, freeing slaves, providing food and medicine, that sort of thing. Had you made some effort to negotiate, it should have been patently obvious they would have been willing to extend evacuation aid to you. So why didn't you? Surely the continued existence of your culture is worth a few hours of discussion."**_

"Hmph… haha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Enlil fell into helpless giggles, clutching her sides.

_"**Admittedly not the **__**reaction I was anticipating.**_**"**

"I thought she was supposed to be a diplomat…?" Amaterasu muttered.

"I…! I'm s-sorry! It's just… you hide your face, your voice, even so much as your _gender_, only speaking to me over an untraceable covert link, and you accuse _me _of not being _trusting enough?_" Enlil chuckled. "Oh, you're a treasure. I'm going to guess a fact about you, and you tell me if it's true: if I searched for your name in the most recent census data for whatever world you happen to be from, it would either inform me that you are dead, or that no person with your name and physical characteristics was ever born."

"_**… … …"**_

"Yes, I thought so. Clearly trusting others is very high on _your _list of priorities." She said dryly. "Well, in any event to answer your question, sir or ma'am, we did not approach any modern government because this is our utter, absolute last chance. What if they didn't believe us, or they weren't willing to take the risk and still attempted to prevent us from inducing the required dimensional event? We'd be right where we are now, only the enemy would have more information about us. And even if we succeeded, what is the point in rebuilding if we end up as just one more 'Administrated World' before we have the opportunity to establish our independence? Don't think I don't recognize the pattern... how many worlds agree to follow Bureau law out of genuine agreement, and how many do so because they are first informed of these laws while several very large, shiny ships just happen to be in orbit? Oh, I don't blame them... safeguarding creation is a difficult goal to set for oneself, and one must be willing to take questionable actions in order to achieve it. But that doesn't mean I am interested in being answerable to any higher authority, thank you very much." She said. _And more to the point, they might have asked us what we plan to do once we're out, which would have been extremely awkward to explain, believe me, _she did not say out loud.

"**_My, you are a bit paranoid, aren't you_?" **The Director said, and Enlil thought she heard approval in the altered tone. **_"But then, there's nothing wrong with that. A leader who doesn't know when to be paranoid is one who tends not to be a leader for very long. Yes... yes, I think we can understand each other. Even, if you are willing to provide suitable compensation, work together."_**

"Of course. We haven't much... or, actually, anything... in the way of modern currency, but I'm sure we can arrange a suitable reward for your services."

**_"Oh, I'm afraid we already have a price in mind. It's a bit steep, but considering the circumstances, not terribly unreasonable. We are, after all, basically offering you your lives. You shouldn't expect it to be cheap." _**

"And what _would _it be, exactly?"

**_"Well, in exchange for intelligence and military support, we had rather decided that we would like everything. Blueprints or samples of any mechanisms or spells that catch our interest. Everything you have."_**

"... I beg your pardon?"

* * *

Chrono looked back and forth between his mother and the tribunal, confusion and anger warring for control of his face. In the end, what actually won was neither of them, but rather a sort of long-brewing annoyance. "We're not in trouble, are we?"

"No." Lindy admitted.

"And you've known this for...?"

"Only since we entered the room, I swear." Lindy said. To her credit, she didn't laugh at him. "They really didn't tell me who would be running the hearing, but..." She gestured at the huge, bearded man, "The large gentleman over there is Commodore Torus Bentz, from Internal Affairs... and he also attended the academy with your father, he was a groomsman at our wedding, even. And my first assignment ever was as Admiral Mizetto's assistant. There was no way that two thirds of the committee would be old friends if I was actually in any danger."

Chrono rubbed his forehead and sighed sadly. "And of course, rather than discreetly let me know we were fine, you left me to panic."

"Well, we might have been under observation. Until we could be certain it was safe, I thought I should... help you give a good performance." Lindy said apologetically. "Besides, it was heartwarming. You got so _defensive_. It was nice to see that you care."

"He really is a dutiful boy." Admiral Mizetto said warmly.

_Mom!_ Chrono thought in annoyance. _Stop embarrassing me in front of the living legend!_ Out loud, he said. "So, I suppose I should be asking what this is all actually about... and perhaps more importantly, who is _she_?"

The woman who had not yet been introduced or even acknowledged smiled slightly, the first hint of an expression she'd thus far shown. "Talia Aston. Technically speaking, I'm a 'personal assistant and data entry specialist'."

"You are _not_ a secretary." Chrono said bluntly.

"First off? The term secretary is demeaning, I'm a data entry specialist." Talia said. "Second, I technically am. It's just that I'm usually entering data that people don't know I have, and I'm not entering it anywhere they want me to."

"You're with Fleet Intelligence?"

"Officially, I cannot confirm or deny that." Talia said, which was really answer enough.

Admiral Mizetto steepled her fingers in front of her face. "Ever since the Graham fiasco, we've been making an effort to be more... observant of our top brass. So while Commodore Bentz conducted his investigation, I elected to oversee it personally in the event that there was actually something to it... particularly since I noted that Captain Harlaown's initial report seemed rather more scarce than it ought to have been, and you, Lindy, seemed to have conveniently failed to notice this fact."

Lindy smiled nervously. "You, uh... caught onto that, eh?"

"I have been doing this for a couple years longer than you, Lindy." Mizetto said dryly. "Though you and your boy were right not to say anything. It makes you look sloppy, but it also makes you less of a target. In any event, the investigation had barely even begun when Agent Aston here approached me to offer her... unique secretarial skills."

"_You_ approached _her_?" Chrono asked. "Wouldn't it typically be the other way around?"

Talia and Mizetto exchanged glances, and the older woman nodded once.

"There isn't going to be an official Intelligence investigation into this, considering that corruption inside the Bureau itself is technically Internal Affairs business and they get all whiny if we step on their toes."

Bentz muttered something that might have been 'bitch' and might have just been commenting on the humidity in the room.

"However, circumstances of the case caught my eye. Mostly because this isn't the first time something like this has come up, and the last occasion that anyone noticed had a rather... personal impact on me. So I decided to offer my independent assistance to Admiral Mizetto." Talia finished.

"Then you know something we don't?"

"... yes and no."

"You have absolutely no idea how much I would love a straight answer today. To anything, really, as long as it's an answer." Chrono said bluntly.

"Oh, I've got a straight answer for you, it's just not a very good one and you're not going to like it." Talia said.

Chrono and Lindy exchanged glances, and once again it was the older of the two who nodded.

"Tell us anyway." Chrono said.

"Hmmm... I know that I've been investigating an incident not entirely dissimilar from what you've described for nearly five years, and in that time found almost nothing of value." Talia said. "And that, by itself, is something of value."

"You'd be shocked at how not straight that was."

"Okay, how's this? Basically, you're screwed."

"... that's... a little better." Chrono admitted.


	20. The Fine Art of Deception

**Author's Note: This fic, thanks to Mousou, now has its own TV Tropes page! Sweet! I'm a huge fan of said website, so it's always nice to see something I wrote being given attention there. A link is available in my author profile****, and it's actually growing quite nicely. Though ****I'll admit to being behind a little bit of that myself. Not much, but... well, sometimes I can't help myself...**

**Author's Note 2: I'm considering writing just a basic story summary that I leave up instead of summarizing each new chapter as it's posted. I've noticed most people do it that way, and I figure it might be less intimidating to new readers, make them not feel lost. What do you think?**

**Chapter 19: The Fine Art of Deception**

Everything.

Seriously?

"You… are aware that we've only just started negotiations, correct?" Enlil said, just barely managing not to sound completely stunned. She'd certainly been anticipating a large demand, but wasn't he being awfully open about this? That just wasn't how it was _done._

**_"Ah, I see the problem. You believe we are negotiating_****_. We each make offers that are more than what we actually want, slowly making 'concessions' to whittle down the other side's resistance, in the end, each side will leave pretending they've given up more than the other? We are not doing that, no. My organization is offering you a service, for which there is a set price which you will find to be quite explicitly non-negotiable._**

"_**You wish to escape from a hostile, lightless hellscape. We can give you the support you need to achieve that. And in return for this, we. Want. Everything. If you don't like it, feel free to continue on your own. Perhaps you'll succeed. Or you can attempt to petition the Bureau… they might even listen. The current leadership is very big on forgiveness. Keep in mind, of course, that even in the best-case scenario you are still a criminal, and will eventually find yourself either in prison or working on their behalf in short order should you choose that route."**_

"… if you'll please excuse me for a moment." She said, setting the card down and casting a small seal on it to prevent the other party from listening in. "What do you three think? Give me your honest opinions."

"Well…" Amaterasu said thoughtfully. "As much as we could use the help, I'm frankly finding this a little hard to stomach. He's just a commoner and he has the gall to speak to you like that? Granted, your station doesn't have quite the clout it once did, but it's still irritating. Part of me wants to turn him down on general principle."

"Are we even still considering this? I mean, shadowy dealings, assassinations, utter ruthlessness, I can understand all of that, that's just government stuff... he is government, right? Black ops? I guess organized crime might have that kind of resources, but I'm inclined to think black ops... But this guy is also sort of a jerk, and there's really no need for that. Plus, he's probably going to turn on us." Susanoo said.

"I agree with big brother, actually." Tsukuyomi said. "Were this individual interested in a particular reward, we could at least take comfort that they'd need us alive to provide it, but they've expressed a blanket interest in anything and everything that we have to offer. They can benefit from simply searching through the ruins, and they don't truly need us for that. And…"

"And," Enlil interjected dryly, "They strike me as the type to 'silence' us unless they derive some benefit from not doing so. The instant we're not valuable to them, we'll be tossed aside, then? How tedious."

"Actually, that might be good for us." Amaterasu said. "They're assuming they'll be _able _to kill us. They'll probably have something ready to attack us from orbit as soon as we hit dimensional space… or barring that, try to slip in an assassin of some sort before we can consolidate our defenses. But to get what they want, they _have _to make sure Rebirth goes as planned, and once that happens, we're more-or-less untouchable. The planetary defense grid has repelled much worse than whatever trash they're throwing our way, and… well, assassins? Please. That's why the three of us are here, that's our _real _job. We eat assassins for breakfast."

"Literally, in the case of that one who tried to infiltrate through the the service staff in 1047. Remember, we caught him in the kitchens and it got kind of messy, and the next day Prince Anshar found a finger in his morning tea?" Susanoo said.

"_Yes, _Susa, thank you for reminding me of something I spent a great deal of time and effort trying to forget. My point is: let them come. We're on our home ground, and whatever they want to hit us with, we can take it."

Susanoo said, "Well, I guess we can promise them anything, right? We're never going to pay it, so..."

"They'll also be expecting that." Tsukuyomi cautioned. "If we anticipate betrayal, it's best to assume they're anticipating much the same and preparing for when we break our word."

"So we have to plan to counter their betrayal, while also planning to counter the plan they're conceiving to counter _our _betrayal, which of course means we'll also have to have something prepared in the event they try to counter _that_… it's almost like I'm at a family dinner, there's so much deception and veiled hostility in the air." Enlil said with a smirk. "Fortunately, Amaterasu is right. If Rebirth goes as planned, they're free to scheme impotently as much as they want. No matter what they bring to bear against us we've faced worse, and crushed it. This is no different… no, it's _easier_, because those were legitimate enemies who understood what they were challengingand chose to face us anyway. Now we're dealing with nothing more impressive than greedy children who have _no _idea what they're meddling with."

Amaterasu raised a hand. "And what do we do if they actually keep their end of the bargain?"

Enlil blinked a few times.

"Yes, I'm aware how naive that sounded." Amaterasu said, rolling her eyes. "Just thought someone should ask."

Enlil sighed. "Well, on the off-chance that they deal fairly with me, I suppose I'll deal relatively fairly with them. They won't get what they wanted, exactly, but they'll be rewarded suitably. Most notably in that I shall not have them killed. Fair enough?" She waved a hand at the card, dispelling her seal… and inserted the hints of held-back tears in her voice as she said in frustration. "… _damn you. _Yes. Fine. As much as I hate to admit it, we have no choice. There's no price too high to pay for my people. Help us, get us out of here, and we'll give you whatever you want… under one additional condition."

**"**_**I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that I was accepting new conditions. I already told you that I have no interest in further nego…"**_

"Just listen!" Enlil snapped in desperate annoyance that was only half-fake. "First, as… as a sign of good faith, return the Drive unit you stole. The green gem? This is for your own good as well as ours… the more of them we have, the more likely our plans will succeed. Remember that if we don't get what we want, you don't get anything at all."

"_**I could make the argument," **_The Director said slowly, _"__**That if you're that uncertain of success, then we might as well simply keep the gem in question based on the fact that it might end up being the only compensation we receive. However, it would be a moot point given that it has already been disassembled."**_

"… … … what." Enlil said, in truly and completely genuine shock.

"_**For study.**_"

"You… you took it _apart_."

"_**Given that we found ourselves unable to alter the software, we chose to pierce the outer shell and study the hardware instead. It was the logical choice at the time... albeit perhaps a bit ill-considered, given that the mechanism in question no longer seems to function."**_

"You… you _idiot! _That was… it may have been one of the only ones left in existence! At the very least it will be decades before we have the facilities to make more! It was _priceless_ and you simply ripped it open to fiddle with the insides?!" She snarled.

_**"I understand you aren't happy, but is this going to be a deal-breaking problem? Because I shouldn't have to point out that while we gain nothing by simply backing out of the agreement now, we also LOSE nothing."**_

_Stop it, Enlil. You're letting him get to you, and that's stupid. Just forget everything else, and focus on the act. Take a deep breath, calm down, and put your mask back on. _It was difficult, biting back her reaction to this blatant disrespect. Precia was already hard enough to deal with, but she was able to put up with that simply because she could partially understand the woman's anger, even if not quite the reason it was so intense. This… individual… was simply very. Very. Vexing.

Still, not for nothing had she been chosen to take the throne over her siblings. She knew how and when to hide her true self, and she could do it as few others could if the situation called for it. "… no. No. In the end, we were going to make do with three anyway, so even one more Gate is still an improvement. And realistically… we still haven't much choice in the matter. We need all the help we can get."

_**"I'm glad that you agree with me, then. We'll speak again later, when you're ready to move. The card you were provided has a series of communication points programmed into it, so you can safely contact us again by the same method. And while I truly do understand that you are not truly satisfied with this arrangement, please try to remember that it could be far worse. We gain the new cutting edge of modern technology, you get to return to the land of the living… really, this has to potential to be one of those oh-so-rare situations where everybody wins.**__" _The Director said, almost cheerfully. The link severed, the card once again went completely black.

Enlil resisted the urge to crush it. "You know, I hope they really _do _betray us. At least then I can assure myself it isn't anything personal when I have this charming individual hunted down and killed. Right then, back to work. The three of you get as much rest as you can; we've probably got a few days before we find another active target. I need to... ugh... talk with Precia."

"What for?" Susanoo asked.

"The 'myth of Al Hazard'," Enlil said softly. "Precia... when she first woke up, before we could speak each other's languages, she babbled something about Al Hazard. It stuck with me because those were the only words I could pick out of her speech. When there were no mentions in the _Shiva _files, I assumed it was just a coincidence, a similar term that meant something different. But now its come up again..."

Susanoo blinked. "Well, I'll admit it's not a name I was ever expecting to hear again, but they did say 'myth'. Doesn't sound like they know anything concrete."

"I know, which is the only reason I'm not a good deal more panicked. Still, I'd rather be absolutely certain. If some of that knowledge survived, or even _grew _over the ages, and it got into the wrong hands..." Enlil said, her voice trailing off briefly. After a few seconds, she sighed and said. "Al Hazard... of all the things to hear in this day and age..."

* * *

The Director sat back in his chair and turned to the assistant of the day. "Not bad. A little over-emotional at times, but she's not bad at all. So, tell me… who do you think lied more often in that conversation? Her? Me? Or perhaps it was a draw."

"I couldn't say, sir."

"She's hiding something, definitely. I don't know if that story about survivors is true or just an attempt to create sympathy, but even if she was being genuine that's no reason to need the entire planet back. It can't be suitable for mass habitation anymore, why not just evacuate the people and leave the place behind? No, there's _something _about that world that they _can't _give up, and I don't like that I don't know what it is."

"We have the _Hecate _on stand-by, and she's Arc-en-ciel equipped. One shot from orbit, should be sufficient to annihilate any target, and with the new stealth shields, she should be able to take that shot easily enough. Unless you're thinking otherwise, sir?"

"I thinking that there's far too much that we don't know, and until that changes it is safest to operate under the assumption that there's no such thing as 'overkill' in this situation. The more cards in our hand right now, the better I'll feel. Have we finished the other project yet?"

"Not quite, but most likely within the week. There's been some problems integrating the gem with the Logia we slipped from Containment, but it should be dealt with shortly."

"Good to hear. The sooner, the better. As much as I hate to ask, request the Doctor's assistance if you have to. He might whine about his cyborgs, but the man won't turn down the chance to work on something like this."

"… sir?"

"Yes?"

"If this is really such a risk… maybe we should simply back out. Forget about this mission and just accept what we've already acquired."

The Director shrugged. "Is it a risk? Yes, of course. But the Bureau chiefs have judged the potential rewards to be worth it, and at this point I tend to agree. It's a bit ironic, honestly, considering that our biggest reason for not trusting their word is also the most obvious reason to help them. Extracting an entire _planet _from the dimensional void? Even just the chance to _examine _that process would probably be worthwhile. A shot at getting control of the technology involved? I'd say that's worth a risk.

"And of course, it's not as though we don't have ways to alleviate that risk. The _Hecate, _and of course our other little project. And any other number of backup plans to insure we walk away from this with what we're after. After all, the most important part of any partnership is being able to terminate it if you have to."

* * *

Fate opened her eyes.

_Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Back to sleep.._. She thought, letting them flutter shut again.

"Oh! Fate! Everyone, she's awake!" A voice said very cheerfully. It sounded like Nanoha, though the echoing in her head made it hard to be sure. That presented a problem for Fate, given that her first instinct right this moment was to politely request that the person speaking immediately _stop _speaking and never open her mouth again, because her head simply refused to stop pounding and the excited shouting was not helping. And yet, this was not something she wanted to ask of Nanoha, because she really liked Nanoha.

_The things I do for friendship. _Fate thought, opening her eyes as widely as she could without the light becoming genuinely painful. "Hello, Nanoha." She said, her voice sounding painfully raspy even to her own ears. "I'm glad to see you too."

And despite the discomfort, it was true. If one _had _to wake up, waking up to Nanoha's smiling face was a good way to do it. "I'm so glad… you were hurt, so… Oh!" Nanoha said, her face falling into a look of concern. "I was just so happy to see your eyes open, I didn't even think about it. I'm sorry, Fate, I'll let you sleep…

"It's all right," Fate said, admittedly fighting to keep her eyes open. "I can stay up a few minutes. It's never bad to see you smile…"

That warm, cheerful smile leapt back onto Nanoha's face instantly.

"Like that. That's the one…" Fate said happily. It was almost enough to take her mind off… something… "Where are we, by the way?"

"Um… headquarters. The infirmary wing. They transferred us here when _Asura _docked, since the facilities are better than anything a ship can offer."

"Headquarters? Then we needed to make a formal report." Fate said. Her mind was still annoyingly fuzzy, but she was starting to piece together exactly what had happened. A Gate again, like before, but this time something else…

Some_one_ else…

Fate's eyes shot open. "_Mother!" _She sat up, her grogginess already a distant memory. "She's alive! She was…"

"Fate! Calm down." Nanoha said firmly, placing her hands on Fate's shoulders. "I know how you must feel, but you can't do anything about it right now, even if you weren't hurt."

"But she's…" Fate began, before her head began swimming. The adrenaline rush could only get her so far, and she was already beginning to crash. "… she's… she's…"

Nanoha placed one hand on her shoulder. "Shhhh. It'll be okay…"

"Oh, Nanoha…" Fate said, a tear running down her cheek in spite of herself. "I… I thought I was done with this. Deep down, I never knew for certain whether the way it ended was good or bad, but at least I knew it _ended. _It was done, and I could move on with my life_. _But now… she's…!"

"Fate." Nanoha said firmly, adjusting Fate's head gently so they were looking each other directly in the eyes. "Things are different this time. You have friends, and you have a family… a _real _family, that loves you. If you want to go out, hunt down your mother and pay her back for all the horrible things she did to you, all of us will be right there beside you. If you… you want to try one more time to reach her, reconcile, then as much as we don't think she deserves it, we'll still be right beside you for that too. If you want to forget about the problem, call in sick, and take a vacation to somewhere tropical while we deal with things _for_ you... well, you've earned it." Nanoha said, putting on a small smile as she said this last point and being rewarded by a somewhat strangled chuckle from the blonde girl. "Whatever happens, whatever you choose to do, just remember that all of us are by your side. I'm here. You're not alone_._"

Fate fell silent for a moment, closing her eyes.

Then she giggled.

"How… how do you always know what to say?" Fate said, tears falling freely down her face from the highly improbable combination of mirth, joy, and sadness.

"It's probably a trade-off. In exchange for not having enough sense to listen to her doctor." Said a sweet, cheerful, and yet somehow horrifying voice from behind Nanoha.

The two girls froze, and slowly turned towards the source.

Shamal smiled. She smiled beautifully. There was not the slightest hint of anything but joy and warmth in her expression. And yet… and _yet…_

"Miss Nanoha. If I recall correctly, was I not in the middle of addressing your wounds?" Shamal asked warmly and pleasantly and terribly.

"Y-yes…"

"Then why, may I ask, did you leap up off the table in the middle of a sensitive spell casting? It was quite unwise, I'm afraid." Shamal said, her voice so sweet it could decay teeth. Nanoha was inexplicably stricken with soul-deep terror. "The backlash caused by the spell's sudden collapse could have been dangerous, you know. Fortunately, I was able to ensure that it was not, but there is always a risk with even the safest medical procedure, magical or otherwise. You know that."

"I… I… I'm s-sorry…"

"You might have even reopened your wounds and begun bleeding again. That would have been unpleasant for everyone. Honestly, young lady, that earnest attitude of yours is a very charming quality, but you simply must learn to take care of yourself better. Helping others is very noble, but you have to consider your own needs from time to time." Shamal said, her smile only getting sunnier. Nanoha couldn't help but think of the time when she was five and she had broken her mother's favorite vase. That was the last time she'd felt such a sensation of 'I know she'd never hurt me for any reason, so why am I still afraid?'.

"I… I didn't…" Nanoha muttered almost inaudibly.

"And of course, I understand how excited you are to talk to Miss Fate, but she needs her rest more than you realize. She nearly died, and her treatment and recovery isn't complete by any stretch of the imagination. So while I realize you mean no harm, even getting her excited like this when she needs as much rest as possible could be a serious problem." Shamal said. She wouldn't have looked out of place in a calendar, holding a basket of kittens and smiling, the perfect example of a wholesome, beautiful girl-next-door. Nanoha could barely breathe through her dread.

"… … … I'll come back and let you finish now." Nanoha said softly.

"Good girl." Shamal said cheerfully, leading her away.

Fate blinked a few times, wondering vaguely if she'd ever see Nanoha again.

"Shamal can be rather imposing when she tries to be, can't she? Never underestimate the kind ones." Said another familiar voice.

Somewhat embarassed, Fate realized she'd never actually looked at the next bed over, she'd been so caught up in her own awakening and her thoughts of mother. She turned her head and looked in that direction now.

It was entirely unfair, she thought, that even with bed-hair and wearing nothing but bandages and a hospital gown, Signum _still _managed to be perhaps the most dignified-looking woman she'd ever seen. "When I saw Shamal, I was expecting to see you... just not in _here_." She said.

Signum did not quite smile. "Whatever impression I might have left on you, Testarossa, I _can _be damaged."

"I'll admit it _is _a bit hard to actually imagine you being seriously hurt." Fate said lightly. "So what did happen?"

Signum thought for a moment. "Hmmmm... multiple lacerations scattered over most of my body; only a few of them were deep enough to reach bone, though. Some rather severe burns, both electrical and fire. My arm was broken in two places and nearly cut off. I was partially impaled, though that one wasn't so bad since the wound was cauterized shut. I believe I was mildly concussed when she threw me into the ground. Oh, and Laevateinn lost his sheathe."

Fate's jaw dropped. _She... she... that should kill someone, shouldn't it? Shouldn't that kill a person? _And yet, the older woman looked, right now, as if she'd taken a nasty spill off a bicycle at worst. She didn't even seem terribly uncomfortable, in sharp contrast to how Fate herself felt.

Signum seemed a little puzzled by her expression. "Is something wrong? Is this about the sheathe? Because I'm informed Miss Atenza has the parts needed to replace it, and the order should be done within the week, so it isn't too great a concern."

"You're... that's..." Fate shook her head in amused amazement. "Never mind. It's good to see you again, Signum."

"My thoughts exactly, Testarossa."

"_Please go back to sleep, young lady..." _Shamal said from the next room in a warm, nurturing voice that sent chills down Fate's spine.

Signum shuddered. "Please, Testarossa. For all our sakes, listen to her."

* * *

"Agent Aston," Lindy asked gently. "Could you please, perhaps, explain what you mean by 'screwed' before my son has a coronary?"

"Of course, Admiral. My own incident was, as mentioned, a little over five years ago. We... and by we, I mean of course myself and several other _highly qualified _administrative assistants. Really."

"I'm sure they were truly impressive typists." Lindy said solemnly.

Talia smirked wickedly. "And they could make great coffee, too. So anyway, we were involved in an investigation of an individual by the name of Carson Dyane. He was... a nasty piece of work, frankly. Weapons, narcotics, the occasional sale of sentient beings? Basically, if it was illegal, he probably at least had someone in his payroll who did it. 'Scum' was an understatement. Problem was, he was also a veteran senator on Administered World #17, Rienne. The representative of the largest and most prosperous population sector, even."

Lindy winced.

"Yes, that's how most people react. The local government and law enforcement were completely in his pocket, so it wasn't too hard for him to crush the evidence of his dealings locally, and unfortunately he was clever enough to recognize this and do _all _his dealings locally. Enforcers had managed to get ahold of a few of his off-world contacts, but the Bureau couldn't connect them to him directly enough to officially touch the guy."

"So Intelligence decided to _un_officially touch him?" Chrono said.

"No, actually. We lucked out when a mining operation on his continent unearthed a Lost Logia, and he attempted to hide the discovery so he could sell it on the black market. We'd already been investigating him, so we were able to find out about the artifact before he could hide the find completely. Even better, the trial pretty much _had _to take place off-world, so we could cut him off from his power base and nail the bastard."

"Oh. I'm sorry I assumed..."

"Don't be. Your 'assumption' was Plan B."

"Ah." Chrono said. The famed Intelligence Service pragmatism. It wasn't exactly unknown in the more 'open' branches, but it was still nothing you expected to be discussed in public, and Chrono didn't care for it. But then, another little detail was also biting at him that had nothing to do with morality...

"If he was brought down legitimately..." Lindy said, as if reading Chrono's thoughts, "Why did I never see a case report?"

"Because he was not 'brought down'. Or rather, he brought himself down before we could intervene." Admiral Mizetto interjected. "If you did hear about Senator Dyane, it was probably hearing news of his suicide. But even that wasn't considered major news anywhere but Rienne. He was, to the rest of the Bureau, nothing but a local official after all."

"He killed himself?" Chrono asked, his tone making it clear he didn't believe this.

"Of course not." Tiala Aston said, her voice acquiring an edge of bitterness. "The man was wealthy, well-connected, and had a horde of lawyers. Even if he was obviously caught red-handed, he'd try to fight it. It had to have been staged. And before you ask, it wasn't us. I was the coordinator for that mission, if a kill order had been given I would have been the one to pass it down to the field agents. We were going to stop him nice, and fair, and in the open. All we had to do was _watch_ and make sure he didn't bolt until it was time to call in the Enforcers with their bright shiny magic wands to bring him down in high style."

"And the artifact?"

Tiala smiled coldly. "Why, there was no artifact. Clearly it was only a rumor in the first place; he'd obviously been trying to cover up some other, unrelated illegal activity and we overzealous peons had mistaken the activity for attempts to smuggle an unregistered Lost Logia. Or at least, that's the explanation that our superiors handed us for why it completely disappeared without a trace."

"That sounds... unlikely."

"It's _impossible_. We found the dig site, for God's sake! We _know _that something large was removed from it, and we _know _that the miners that excavated it received an enormous government contract shortly afterward in spite of the fact that we _also _combed their storehouses and know they didn't excavate any useful minerals to speak of! They get rewarded for finding nothing? Not likely! They were paid to stay silent, and _he was the only one who could have authorized it! _We _had _him!" Tiala snapped. "And then someone got in, took the Logia, and killed the guy. Worse they somehow did it without us noticing."

Chrono's expression darkened. "Almost as if someone was seeing everything you saw and had access to all of the information you had, and therefore knew exactly when and where to move in order to get past you."

"Well, at the time, we didn't quite comprehend exactly what was going on, but yes... we assumed that it had to be an inside job. Either someone on the field team, me, or our direct superior had to have been behind it. It made sense. Maybe Dyane had someone on the inside who decided to shut him up and destroy the evidence, or maybe his buyer had the mole and wanted to get their new toy before we stepped in and took it. And since I couldn't trust anyone on the team now, I decided to dig around a little myself. I found..." She paused, maybe for dramatic effect. "... very, very little. Maybe one or two things of value, in five years of looking. And finding information is my _job_."

"... oh." Chrono said.

Commodore Bentz chuckled. "You look a lot like your father. He had that blank, underwhelmed look a lot too."

* * *

Yuuno sighed. "Still nothing?"

One of his more reliable assistants ('reliable' in that he had at least figured out that you shouldn't put the texts back on the shelves at random) raised his goggles and shook his head sadly. "Sorry, chief." He said, reaching into the apparatus in front of him and withdrawing from the central glass chamber a small, dull green gem identical to the ones used by the invaders, different only in that it lacked the inner light. "I've tried every scan I can think of, but the inner mechanisms have degraded so much that I can't get any useful data on how to interact with the active ones."

"No, no, that's fine. It's not your fault; we knew going in that not everything we've recovered would turn out to be useful." Yuuno said reassuringly. "This might have been a Lost Logia once, but at this point it's no more useful or dangerous than a marble. Head back to the stacks and start helping the others search through the older texts. Especially look for any symbols or writing that seem similar to the ones I've shown you, even if it's only a slight resemblance. Anything is better than nothing, and nothing is what we have now."

"Right, chief. ... er, before I go..."

"Yes?"

"I've heard some of the others talking, and they said... well, there's some talk that we might be dealing with..." the young man (Young? He was probably at least ten years older than Yuuno) swallowed and said, with shining eyes, "... do you think we've _really _found Al Hazard?" He didn't mention the obvious addendum to that thought, 'And they're trying to kill us?', which just showed that everyone is a _little _willing to ignore their own safety for science.

"We haven't _found _anything. Hence the research." Yuuno said mildly. "Besides, until I know more the best answer I can give you is a resounding 'maybe'. There's some evidence to that effect, but there is also some evidence against. It is your job to find out which evidence is correct. So..."

"Right, chief!" the young...ish... man said, getting to his feet and walking briskly back into the main library from the side-chambers Yuuno was examining the confiscated artifacts in.

"Ah, to be young and excited and... older than me." Yuuno said fondly to no-one in particular. Honestly, he couldn't blame the man. If you talked to a layman about archaeology, the _first _thing that would come to their mind was the words 'Al Hazard'. Anyone would be excited. Heck, even Yuuno himself was starting to get his old energy back as he looked over the assorted items that had been found in the ruins. It appeared to have been a supply depot; most of what had been brought back looked to be mass-produced equipment for colonization purposes; containers to keep food fresh, water purifiers, survival knives, nothing terribly unusual. But just studying it, seeing something so old with his own eyes, observing how even things as simple as these most basic of objects had changed as time passed and civilizations rose and fell, picking through what had come before and just _learning _for the sheer sake of learning...

It was what he lived for.

A slightly mousy young... relatively... girl poked her head into the room. "Um, chief, I was looking for Vilianni's _Compendium on Runic Transcription_, and it's not on the shelves where it should be... and neither is the archive entry on known Lost Logia dated at 20,000+ years old... and neither is..."

Yuuno sighed. More and more, it seemed his job was getting in the way of what he lived for, these days.

* * *

Chrono rubbed the bridge of his nose to fight off the growing headache.

"Yeah, Clyde did the exasperated look pretty often too." Bentz said. "Anyways, finding nothing is a big thing when you're looking for corruption. It's my specialty, and 'follow the money' is the biggest rule. Not all good traitors are _after _money, but almost all of them _need _money, and if you want to pick one out of a crowd the money is where you look."

"Right, except there _was _no money." Aston said. "No suspicious deposits or withdrawals from the accounts of any of the team members, but that's to be expected, none of them were stupid."

"So from there, you branch out. Look for family accounts. Find descriptions of individuals who _look _like the suspect; they might be aliases. Does the suspect own any stocks? Check the company for strange transactions that seem to not be going into or out of particular projects." Bentz said.

"Check, check, and check. Still nothing."

"Oh, a creative one. Yeah, Graham was good at that too... he assembled that Durandal by overestimating the required funding of every project he oversaw by .5%, over a period of nearly a decade. Then when it came time to return excess funding, he would fudge the books and only give back about half of it. Just took a little bit every time, never got greedy, never got impatient... brilliant stuff. Brilliant _man._ Nobody suspected a thing until his Familiars got caught, and even then proving anything would have been insanely hard if he hadn't confessed to it all and gotten a deal..."

Admiral Mizetto sighed. "Commodore. It would be preferable if you didn't sound quite so _impressed _by the crime."

"Sorry, Admiral. It was just _really good _crime."

Talia Aston blinked a few times. "If I might be allowed to continue?"

"By all means, Agent." Mizetto said.

"Thank you, ma'am. Now, as I was saying, I didn't find any indication that anyone on _my _team was betraying us. Now, I'll grant you that a truly incredible mole leaves the same trace as no mole at all, but at the very least it seemed possible that something else was going on. So I decided to check the equipment, to be on the safe side... all of it checked out safe enough... except for one thing. One of the bugs we placed. It was hidden inside the sole of the target's shoe, so it couldn't transmit often without being detected by his security. But when I examined it, the remaining battery life was almost used up. Which doesn't make any sense unless it was transmitting almost constantly. This, I should not have to point out, makes no sense. If we could have transmitted constant data feeds through his security, we would have, believe me. And when I tried to access the data it recorded during this unauthorized sessions, the program informed me there had been no unscheduled activations. So my own blasted equipment was doing something it couldn't have done, and then lying to me about it."

"It was tampered with?"

"It must have been, though I couldn't tell you how, frankly. And the more I looked, the more... and less... I found. There were other pieces of equipment that had shown signs of being active without authorization. Even... and this is really, really scary... some of the Devices the field team were carrying. Storage devices, that's one thing, but even the surveillance chief's Intelligent Device had an inexplicable blank spot in it's memory. But no matter how I dug into the programming or examined the mechanism, I just couldn't find a _reason _for it. It was like..."

"Like most of your own equipment had been turned against you without you even noticing?" Chrono said. "I think I can relate."

Commodore Bentz narrowed his eyes. "All of it? That makes no sense whatsoever. Look, I know we're here because we were worried that someone had managed to infiltrate the _Asura_, and judging by the way it was done, there were implications that the perpetrator had a 'back-door' into most of the fleet. But... I mean, there's limits. 'Most of the fleet' was already bad enough. Are you suggesting these people managed to infiltrate as far as... as tapping individual _listening devices _that might well have never even picked up anything of value? And without leaving any real evidence? It's just not possible."

"Agreed." Lindy said. "But it seems to be happening despite its impossibility. So how do we make the impossible possible?"

"Well... okay, I guess maybe Devices are possible. Your average Device is probably turned over to Bureau mechanics for maintenance at least once a year, and someone could probably access it then if they were clever."

Chrono's eyes widened. "Commodore, sir, about the jamming barrier you put up..."

"Don't worry. A side-effect of working in Internal Affairs is a tendency to begin assuming that all of my co-workers are a pack of corrupt murderers just waiting to get me." Bentz said dryly.

"That'a a bit unfair. A person doesn't have to be corrupt to hate Internal Affairs. Or you." Lindy said mildly.

"Yes, thank you, Lin, we really _must _get together more often. My _point _is that nobody does maintenance on this guy but me. Now, where was I?"

"Impossible possibilities."

"Right, right. Okay, devices are tricky, but doable if you can catch them with the AI shut off while they're getting maintenance. Ships... not as easy. Even when they're in drydock, they have crew and technicians all over the place, and it would be a rarity to see anyone in less than a group of five or six. If you're welding down a deck plate and burn your hand off by accident, it's nice to have some assistance nearby. Someone skulking about by himself would be spotted pretty quickly. And don't even get me _started _on the logistics of what Agent Aston is suggesting, that someone went around altering _individual listening devices_."

"Look, you think I don't know how it sounds?" Talia said. "But it happened, and I can't think of another explanation!"

"Can't?" Lindy asked, although her eyes were fixed on Admiral Mizetto's rapidly darkening expression. "Or don't want to?"

"... ... ... what do you mean, mother?" Chrono asked, breaking the long silence that came up.

"I mean that, logistically, it only becomes impossible if you think 'infiltration'. It certainly wouldn't be possible to alter so much equipment unnoticed. But if you think about it, the changes we've found have all really just been programming, haven't they? No physical changes. So... what if they aren't actually 'changes'? If the bits and pieces of code are actually programmed into everything right in the factory."

And the silence came right back.

"You... could...potato...mutton..." Bentz began.

"I could what?'

"Sorry, I was just saying random words because what you've described is _utterly insane _and it took me a few seconds to wrap my head around it_." _Bentz said.

"I'll admit, the scale is still a bit difficult to grasp. But at the very least, suborning the basic manufacturing processes of our suppliers would require a great deal less time and manpower than individually modifying every piece of equipment. And really, they'd only have to deal with the companies that handle our computer equipment, and even then only the ones that make the parts that go into the specific types of tech they're interested in being able to override. It's... not _quite_ as absurd as it sounds, if they have enough resources behind them."

"Do you have any idea how tight the security inspection for new equipment is? Factory-new is the _worst_ possible time to tamper with anything!"

"Unless there's a hole in our inspection protocols to make them miss the altered programming." Lindy said.

"An intentional... Lin, that's even _worse_. You're suggesting, what, that all of our day-to-day processes in every department are set up in such a way that we'll miss this infiltration?"

"I've said it once; don't think 'infiltration'. I don't think it is one." Lindy said. "Maybe it's not an outside party, or a traitor in the ranks. Maybe someone is doing their duty."

"A... what, a 'Department of Treachery'? They punch in their time-cards in the morning and spend the day ruining other people's operations, nothing personal, just a job?"

"These two cases have more in common than compromised equipment, remember. Agent Aston's statements suggest that whatever the nature of the artifact her team was to recover, it was benign enough that common miners had managed to safely store it. So we can say that both cases involved Lost Logia that appeared, at least to cursory inspection, to be largely harmless or controllable." Lindy said. "The study of such artifacts could be beneficial to the Bureau as a whole, wouldn't you say?"

"Well, I suppose, but..."

"But," Lindy said, her tone growing more excited, "This organization doesn't work like that. The entire reason for our existence is to prevent the recurrence of tragedies caused by the Lost Logia. Even items that _seem _harmless are still treated with extreme caution and stored in remote facilities for years, even decades before even the most controlled attempt to activate them is made. Most never see the light of day again. So what if a department was set up, off the books and separate from all other divisions, to collect such artifacts before they can be lost in the red tape? And the reason their existence is secret would be obvious as well; even if it is 'for the good of the Bureau', it's still illegal as sin. Tell the public that we're following in the footsteps of the fallen old worlds, even halfheartedly, and you'd have rioting in the streets."

"Admiral... mother..." Chrono said, "I... what you're suggesting. For them to have corrupted us to the degree you're suggesting, they'd have to have been around from the beginning. As if the Founders said to the public, 'All right, here are the laws we'll be using to protect you' and then turned around to a few people they'd hidden in the corner and said 'And here's everything you'll need to break those laws with impunity, and remember that you're a secret so feel free to shut up the witnesses if you get spotted'. I can... look, I can handle being decieved. I've learned to deal with that. But you're suggesting that the Bureau was _built _on a lie."

"Not entirely." Lindy said reassuringly. "They never made a play for the Jewel Seeds, or the Book of Darkness. At least they seem to acknowledge that some of the Lost Logia are in fact too dangerous to use and have to be isolated. But think... our current crop of problem children? Their magic system is only _slightly _different, their devices are only _slightly _more advanced. Even the most potentially powerful artifacts they've interacted with have shown no signs of being anything but perfectly controllable. From the perspective of the sort of person I've outlined, wouldn't it seem like a waste not to take that and put it into use as soon as possible?"

"And if there's a trick to it that we don't know, and putting it into use causes a dimensional tremor or some other catastrophe?"

"Chrono, I'm outlining what I believe to be their line of thought, not suggesting for a second that I agree with it. Lost Logia are restricted artifacts for a _very good reason_. If something can potentially destroy entire worlds, it's best not to poke it and see what happens." Lindy said soothingly.

"Admiral Mizetto... sir, what do you think about this?" Chrono asked. The undercurrent of _Please, tell me this is a misunderstanding, _in his voice was fairly obvious.

Mizetto sighed and closed her eyes. "I won't lie to you. The Founders were... complicated individuals. Great men, yes, but many great men are not especially good men. It would hardly be the first time that a politician said one thing and did another."

"But... I mean, you were _there. _Could you have missed something like that?"

Mizetto smiled wryly. "I was rather busy at the time, Captain. You may recall that we were attempting to build an interdimensional law enforcement agency from the ground up and convincing a great many individuals, some of the quite stubborn, that it was worth listening to? Everything was chaos in those days, a mad scramble for funding, for manpower, even for the simple knowledge of what we were trying to _do. _You think interdepartmental rivalry is bad now? Believe me, the occasional squabble between the Navy and the Ground Forces is _nothing _compared to the good old days when most people weren't even certain which department was supposed to be handling which case. If someone was quiet and patient, they could set up the framework for a shadow cell during the chaos. Funding comes from the Logia they snare, reverse-engineered and patented as original inventions, totally off the Bureau records. It's not certain, of course, but it's a possibility, and a compelling one."

The old woman closed her eyes in contemplation for a moment, and when she opened them, she seemed a different person, the iron in her eyes impressing upon all those present exactly why this woman was a living legend. "As I said, our founders were complicated men. If they really... I can only hope they did not, or that if they did, the situation evolved beyond their expectations and control. In the end, however, I find that I don't truly care.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am offended. I am offended to think that an organization I helped build has been compromised by the very sort of monster it was created to stop; those who pursue the legacy of the old worlds and consider the lives of others to be meaningless in the face of that pursuit. But this time, the Lost Logia they hunted was able to stand up and fight back, and they have been forced further into the light of day than ever before. And if they continue to hunt their prize, they will eventually have to step out even more. I propose that when that happens... we do _our _duty, and drag them out kicking and screaming to face justice. Agreed?"

And the only response from anyone in the room was, "Yes, sir!"


	21. Ancient History, Advanced Class

**Chapter 20: Ancient History, Advanced Class**

Admiral Mizetto blinked a few times, then smiled. "Oh, my. How forward we all are! You might note that I have not, as of yet, thought of any way to actually go about _bringing _our new friends to justice."

Lindy shrugged. "Well, we have a few options. For starters, Amy is very, very annoyed with what these charming folks have done to her ship. I'm certain she would not object to being handed the resources and permission to find some way around it, and that girl is a miracle worker if you give her some room to exercise her creativity. And of course, we are still dealing with a situation wherein the prize they're after is mobile and combat-capable. We don't know what they're doing, exactly; the last appearance they made was very brief and not in keeping with their suspected objectives, but at the very least we can assume they'll show up the next time our other problem group shows their faces. When that happens... well, I know for a _fact _that our Enforcers would dearly welcome the chance to thrash them, and they're typically quite good at taking people alive. We might gain some valuable evidence if we manage to take one of their pseudo-cyborgs."

Talia smirked. "And a genuine, intelligent field agent would basically be an early Christmas. In the meantime, would it be a horrible imposition if I gave your Amy some assistance? Between the two of us, we might know almost enough to actually get something accomplished."

"Wouldn't it look suspicious if we just stopped by headquarters to pick up a new secre- administrative assistant?"

"Meh. Officers always have paperwork, right? It shouldn't be too noticeable. Besides, I actually do make a _damn _fine cup of tea."

"You're welcome aboard my ship." Lindy said, just a tad too quickly. It was then, almost as an afterthought, that Lindy said, "Oh, and by the way... what should I do about the Wolkenritter situation?"

Mizetto smiled just the tiniest bit wickedly. "Oh, my. We may have to punish you for this flagrant violation of Regulations." She said. And she really did say it just like that; Chrono wasn't sure how she managed to capitalize Regulations with just her voice, but she did it. Perks of admiralty, perhaps. "Commodore?"

Commodore Bentz made a great show of stroking his beard. "Admiral Lindy Harlaown, you have quite obviously committed a serious violation of Bureau law by releasing several highly dangerous fugitives into a sensitive field operation. However... since I'm the person that Admiral Mizetto assigned to your case, and since I know for a fact that you saved lives with your actions and that the 'highly dangerous' fugitives are unfailingly loyal to one of the least antagonistic girls I've ever even heard of, I think we'll just commit our own serious violation and sweep this under the rug. Leave them assigned to your unit and call it 'temporarily remanding them into your authority for protective custody', or something to that effect."

"That's true, in a certain way." Lindy said. "Someone is in custody and someone is getting protected. The fact that _they _are protecting _us _doesn't really change that, so we're not _really _deceiving anyone..."

"If Hayate's people are sticking around, we really ought to arrange a more in-depth briefing than 'here are some people, hit them with your hammer'. We do, on top of all the other assorted madness, actually have some criminals to apprehend." Chrono said. "You want me to handle it?"

"You and Yuuno. Send him a message asking for everything he knows, even if it is still theory." Lindy said. "I know scholars prefer accuracy, but at the very least we should all know all the possibilities."

"And what will you be doing?"

Lindy smiled. "I'm going to catch up with Admiral Mizetto and Commodore Bentz. You know, chat with my old friends."

Chrono sighed in despair. "You're going to be coming up with evil schemes, then?"

Lindy continued to smile.

"Could you... could you at least tell me about them before you enact them this time_? _It would be nice if I knew about your plots_ before _knowledge of them became essential to my continued survival." Chrono begged.

Lindy kept right on smiling. "What plots?"

"Amy is right, isn't she? You really _are _doing that just for fun."

"Doing what?" Lindy asked, the very picture of innocence.

"...I'm leaving now, Admiral."

"Who's leaving?"

"Dammit, mom..."

* * *

Yuuno resisted the urge to grab a book from the shelves and throw it at his assistants, but only because he was pretty sure they would immediately pick it up and misfile it.

"Really, people! When you access data, put it back where it _belongs! _Note that where you _found_ it is not always where it belongs, and neither is the first random spot that catches your eye! That's the reason this place is nigh-unusable without advanced divination! The Scrya clan elders weep!" Yuuno said. Technically that was not true, but he felt it sounded slightly better than the truth, which was something along the lines of 'they are laughing at me and it is your fault'.

He hated being like this, he really did. Confrontation was not his thing. But honestly, the scholar in him would allow nothing less. There are things you simply do not _do _in a library, things that simply are _not _acceptable. Do not damage the books. Do not use the books as coasters. _Do not misfile the books__. _Oh, what he wouldn't give for a handful of real researchers instead of a pack of over-enthusiastic and under-trained students...

"Having fun, sir?" A warm feminine voice said from behind him.

"Eh? Oh, Agent Alpine! Good to see you again." Yuuno said, inclining his head to her as she floated up towards him on his perch in one of the crisscrossing-walkways that stretched through the library.

"Sir, please, you can call me Megane. It feels strange to be called by my rank from someone who's not technically an officer." The tall, violet-haired Investigator said in cheerful exasperation. Despite the fact that Yuuno had been chief librarian for only a few months, he'd still managed to strike up a friendly acquaintance with the veteran agent simply by virtue of the fact that she seemed to stop in to look up _something, _either for business or pleasure, at least once a week. Yuuno liked her. She read a lot, and it was a rare librarian who wouldn't consider that a check in the 'plus' column.

"And I've told you not to call me 'sir', but you never listen." Yuuno said in much the same tone. "So I guess we'll just have to agree to disa- _Corva! That tome doesn't go there! It belongs in the reference section with the other texts on dead languages! Really, people, what did I __**just say?**__- _gree."

Megane blinked. "You seem a bit stressed, sir."

"A bit. I presume you're here to continue rifling through this chaos for information on cybernetics? I'm sure there's something useful somewhere around here, but as always I can't guarantee you'll be able to find it, and unfortunately I can't help you look this time."

"I see that." Megane said, taking in the assistant record keepers floating from shelf to shelf in a cloud of texts. "Wounded in action? This case must be pretty significant if they have a section chief doing field-work."

"And your case must be fairly significant if you still have to look up data for it even though you're supposed to be on leave."

"Technically I don't _have_ to, but every little bit helps, sir. As long as I'm still on maternity leave I can't help with the active investigation, but I can still dig through the archives and see what I can find." Megane said cheerfully. "Combat Cyborg development is hard to accurately trace since the crime isn't the actual cybernetics, but how they're being used. The parts are all over the place and most of them can be bought from legitimate suppliers. Still, if we're clever about it and very, very lucky we could pick up the latest big operator before he gets too dug in. Quint's practically foaming at the mouth. She says that from the size of some of the shipments we've intercepted, it's got to be even bigger than the lab she found Gi... the last big operation we hit. She thinks we might even be onto Scaglietti himself this time."

Yuuno nodded. The name was familiar to him, of course. A brilliant expert in cybernetics, genetic engineering, and who-knew-what-else; his transcendant genius marred somewhat by the fact that he was also a dangerous lunatic with a habit of using said expertise to think up new and exciting ways to cause wanton destruction. "And what do you think?"

"_I _think that even if it isn't, if we can save some kids from being made into human weapons, then we've done a good thing, sir." Megane said with a gentle smile. She then continued in a hushed tone, as if the words embarrassed her, "… though I'll admit that nailing that monster would really brighten my day."

"Well, as always, we're not exactly in perfect order, but you're welcome to whatever you can find. Seekers of knowledge are always welc- _Lantis! I swear, if you are putting a tome on the Hegemons of Shutra into a shelf for Modern Midchildan History, I will fire you right now! And why are you even looking up Belkan states from the Sankt Kaiser era?! I said __**ancient, **__people! Hundreds of thousands of years!- _ome here." Yuuno said.

"Er… yes. Thanks." Megane said a bit nervously. "Oh, do you mind if I check that one out too? Just a little light reading. Lutecia wore out my old copy on the Shutra dynasty."

"Certainly. Oh, and I'm glad to hear your daughter is taking an interest in history. Let her know she can visit here whenever she wants." Yuuno said offhandedly.

"She's a great fan of ancient civilizations, sir." Megane said solemnly. "They use the best glue in the bindings."

"... I feel that I missed out on some details here."

"My daughter is nine months old, sir. Maternity leave, remember? They gave me some extra time because I'm a single mother, but even then it usually doesn't last until the baby is old enough to read." Megane said mildly.

"Oh. Then... er... when you say she 'wore out' your book, she was…"

"Chewing on it, yes. I like to think it means she'll grow up to be a connoisseur of fine literature just like her mommy."

"Well... um... how is she?" Yuuno asked rather lamely. "Any... ink poisoning?"

"She's happy, healthy, and curious to the point of being a danger to herself and anything small enough to fit in her mouth." Megane said proudly. "And smart, too. She can already say 'mama', 'milk', and 'bug'. That's above average, you know. I just wish her father was there to see it..."

Yuuno's eyes widened as the words 'single mother' finally caught in his mind. "Oh... I had no idea. I'm sorry for your loss."

"... ha. Hahahahaha... heehehehehee... HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Megane suddenly fell into helpless giggles. "O-oh... thank you, sir, b-b-but he isn't... heeheehee! He's not _dead_, sir! Though he acts stiff enough to be, sometimes... hahahaha!"

"... oh. I'm sorry again. I just assumed, and I..."

Megane smiled wistfully. "No, no, it's my own fault. The situation is... let's say 'complicated'. We're not exactly a couple, you see. It was more of a one-night thing, and it was not the most well-made decision. Alcohol was involved, you might have guessed. I don't even know if he _remembers_ our time together, and I _do _know he hasn't figured out that the 'result' is his. And... I... can't tell him. I know I should, I know he'd want me to, but I can't afford to distract him now, with the case in full swing like this and real leads just starting to show up for the first time, and..."

"So... so her father is related to your work somehow?" Yuuno said. He got the feeling quite quickly that he shouldn't have.

"... ... ..." Megane said, her face going ghostly white. "Books! I came for books!" And with that, the woman practically dove off the walkway and into the stacks.

"Ooooooo-kay…" Yuuno said. Well, at least maybe now he'd be able to focus.

"Excuse me, Chief Scrya." A masculine voice rumbled from about three inches from his ear.

"GAH!" Yuuno said, jumping halfway out of his skin. He tried to whirl, found that his blasted wheelchair couldn't spin that fast, and settled for sort of turning at the waist. "Z-Zafira?! What are you doing here?!"

"I have two assignments. First, Chrono Harlaown asked me to tell you that he would like you to brief the crew on the situation in two hours, with whatever information you have."

"Well, at the moment that's barely more than I had before. I doubt two hours will change much. Honestly, given the age of what we're looking for, I wonder if two years would change much..."

"He understands, and says that he'll be content with whatever you have found combined with your best guesses. You can continue researching afterward." Zafira confirmed.

"Well, all right. It sort of goes against my instincts, but I can understand where's he coming from. Okay, what was the second reason?"

The Guardian Beast actually looked slightly confused. "Well… Miss Arf suggested I should come to your assistance." The Guardian Beast said. "She said that she would have done it herself, but that she could not leave Miss Testarossa's side and that I would be a suitable substitute."

"… … … why?"

"I'm afraid her logic was somewhat fuzzy. She seemed to believe that you would require her aid because... well, I didn't truly understand, but her exact words were, 'that's our thing. There's a fight, and then we hang out together. If I can't be there, then at least I can send the next best thing'. Do you understand what this means?"

"... it means that she's an odd, odd woman. Though I suppose fuzzy logic from a fuzzy girl is appropriate." Yuuno said. "Well, I guess we really could use all the help we can get. I'll teach you sort of a watered-down version of my personal search magic, and oversee your look through the texts."

"Very well. Oh, she also asked that I slap you for mentioning 'pulling a Chrono' in front of Captain Harlaown, a course of action I believe she considered extremely foolish." Zafira said. "I have chosen not to."

"Thank you very much." Yuuno said.

* * *

Precia narrowed her eyes in annoyance as she looked in the mirror. Bruises were already fully-formed around her eyes and neck, and the burns were annoyingly stubborn as well. It wasn't that she didn't _know _any healing magic; she knew all there was to know and more, thanks to the nature of her research. The problem was that she had, unfortunately, little natural ability for such spells and had to compensate with raw power. Power she was, at the moment, still short on.

She supposed she could have made use of the local medical facilities, but Precia was absolutely the sort of person who would rather be in pain than in the debt of someone she disliked, and...

"Precia, we need to talk." Enlil said, forcing the door to Precia's laboratory open without knocking.

_Think of the brat, and she shall appear_. Precia thought. "I risked my life today, so whatever you're here to accuse me of..."

"What do you know about Al Hazard?" Enlil said.

Precia blinked a few times. "... I'll confess that isn't what I was expecting to hear."

"Believe it or not, the universe does not actually revolve around you. Though at the moment, it may 'actually revolve' around something you _know, _so talk! Come now, I'm encouraging you to show off the fact that you're more knowledgeable than I am. You usually enjoy that."

Precia shrugged. "Al Hazard... it's considered by most to be a myth, but there are hints to the contrary. Particularly, many Lost Logia that seem to share enough common design aspects that they likely emerged from a common source, and are both too old and too advanced to have originated with the Belkan Empire, even at its height before it fell apart into warring states. The general consensus is that there was, at the very least_, some_ highly advanced magical civilization that pre-dated Belka, and which collapsed under disastrous circumstances. My own personal theory was that it had fallen into a dimensional rift and ended up here; my original motivation for the spell to pierce the void was to arrive at Al Hazard. And... frankly, I was under the impression I had succeeded, or at least found part of the basis for the myth. The architecture, the technology... there are a number of similarities between this world and many of the ruins attributed to Al Hazard."

"Yes, there would be... either way, unfortunately." Enlil muttered. Then, more loudly, she said, "Precia, this world fell into the void at roughly the same time that the Empire as a whole collapsed. If the ruins were from us, any working technology recovered from them would have been around the level you've seen here. I think you have a working idea of what we're capable of as civilization, correct? So in your professional opinion, looking back at these ruins... how many of them were really left by us?"

Precia wasn't sure what, exactly, she was seeing. Enlil was... generally speaking, Precia had come to the realization that if Enlil was showing a strong emotion, she was probably faking unless something world-shaking had just occurred. Those buffoons she insisted on surrounding herself with seemed to be the only ones who she actually exposed her genuine feelings to with any regularity. And yet now, she seemed... nervous. Afraid, even. And Precia's gut told her the reaction was genuine.

"... uncertain. It's difficult to tell, particularly considering that certainly many civilizations rose and fell in the intervening millennia, and many of them could have based themselves off your own. All of them have been put under sort of a blanket label as 'Al Hazard' since so few details have been uncovered about their history." Precia admitted. _Why am I being so helpful? _She thought.

Enlil sighed and said, "The particular technology I'm thinking of would be... on the extreme side. Comparable to the Dimension Drivers at least, most likely more powerful. And more dangerous, by far."

Twenty-one tiny, green-blue gems danced in Precia's mind's-eye. "Yes. Some artifacts like that have been uncovered."

Enlil practically growled, "No, no, _no! _It is them, it has to be! Is there one single gods-damned piece of ancient garbage that _didn't _last to the modern day?! All right, now for the important part: what is _done _with these machines? Are they still used, are they put into production? Oh gods, if they are, we might as well give up right now..."

Precia laughed bitterly. "Please! I'm a wanted criminal largely for my pursuit of one. Those that actually function are almost universally uncontrollable. They're sealed into Bureau storage facilities when they can be extracted without destroying them outright."

Enlil let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank the gods. That's about as good an answer as I could have hoped for. You're absolutely certain, correct? Because I'm not exaggerating when I say that absolutely anything that can go wrong _will _go wrong when those maniacs get involved. A single Reality Engine could undo everything that we've worked for over the past year."

Precia arched one eyebrow, curious at this point in spite of herself. Whatever else may come, it was impossible to take the scientist _completely _out of her. "What, exactly, do you _know _about Al Hazard? What is your connection to them?"

Enlil shuddered. "They were mostly before my time... well, they were never really before or after anyone's time, since no matter how thoroughly you quenched the fire a few embers still refused to go out. But we used to tell our children stories about them, just like you. Only they were along the lines of 'the Al Hazardi will come for bad little boys and girls and drag them away in the night, so you had better behave'."

Precia considered this. "And I take it they acquired this reputation for a reason."

"Mostly their habit of actually dragging people out of their homes in the middle of the night. Not only children, of course... they needed a good variety of test subjects, and every experiment was different." Enlil said softly. "Look at it this way, Precia: I'll admit to having done some rather unpleasant things to you. I legitimately didn't ever plan for things to go the way they have, and still feel you're overreacting about the whole situation... but in the end, I really am using your daughter's safety to blackmail you into my service, there's no denying that much. I did this because I'm not a very nice woman. I don't make a habit of it, but I can be very, very cruel when the situation demands it of me.

"And it is because I am _only _cruel when I have to be that you should be happy you found me instead of Al Hazard. At least I can be convinced to give your daughter _back_."

* * *

"All right!" Vita said enthusiastically, taking her seat at the conference table. "Who do I need to hit?"

"Calm, Vita." Signum said.

"I'm calm. You see how Eisen isn't in active mode and breaking stuff? That's me being calm."

"... fair point." Signum admitted.

"Er... Miss Signum..." Nanoha said.

"Yes?"

"Should you be out of bed?" It seemed a sensible question to ask; Fate, Arf, and Hayate were still quite bedridden, and Signum had been hurt more badly than any of them. Even Nanoha, who'd gotten off comparatively light, was feeling that a few hours of napping would be wonderful, but also felt that it could wait until after the meeting. She didn't want to miss anything.

Signum seemed mildly confused. "Why do people keep asking me that?"

"... never mind."

Yuuno, speaking over a video feed from his office, cleared his throat. "Er... if we're ready?"

"Go ahead, Chief Scrya." Chrono said.

Yuuno's eyes narrowed. "Why are you being so... respectful?"

_Because it's more fun to mess with your head in person. Teleconferencing just lacks that personal touch. _Chrono thought. "Just trying to maintain decorum." Chrono said.

"... it's weird. Stop it."

"Well, if you insist. You're a ferret."

"Better." Yuuno said, nodding once. "All right, this is going to be kind of informal, so we'll handle it informally. Start with what we know, go on to what we think, and finish with totally unsubstantiated theory. Chrono?"

"First, the indisputable facts: three Lost Logia, buried on three separate worlds, have been activated by mages of as-yet-unconfirmed origins." The screens projected into the air above the table took on images of Tsukuyomi, Susanoo, and Amaterasu. "Their base of operations seems to be located outside of inhabitable dimensional space, and... judging by our latest encounter, they appear to have gained the ability to freely enter and exit this space thanks to the actions of one Precia Testarossa."

It might have been Nanoha's imagination, but the woman's face appearing on the screen seemed to make the room a little less bright.

"The devices they're activating are extremely large-scale, powerful teleportation mechanisms. Their purpose for doing so is unknown, but what we _do _know is that they have achieved these activations and prevented our tampering with the devices in question through the use of other Lost Logia; small gemlike artifacts stolen from a Bureau vessel that confiscated them from a piracy operation. Five such gems were recovered, meaning that unless they have a supply of their own, our targets can only activate one more Gate."

Vita's eyes narrowed. "Your math is a little off there."

Nanoha interjected, "One of them was taken by a third party before it could be used. We don't know where it is."

"Third party?"

"We don't know much about them, other than... suspicions that they might be connected to someone inside the TSAB." Chrono said, choosing to omit the majority of the details. Those could be shared later under more secure circumstances.

Vita snorted at that. "So... what, you people just go out of your way to only hire traitors?"

Chrono stared at her. Just stared.

Vita arched one eyebrow. "I don't intimidate easy, kid."

Signum said, "_Vita. _Show some respect to our hosts," In a tone that might have legitimately made frost form on the conference table.

"Er... I mean... um... continue the briefing." Vita said, a good deal more softly.

"Thank you." Chrono said. "There isn't much else we know for certain, beyond a basic threat level of the identified criminals. We know for a fact that Precia Testarossa is considered a SS-ranked mage, but be aware that's largely due to a lack of formal combat experience; the rank was first civilian, then in application to her criminal threat level. She is not a trained battle mage, which means that her rank is, disturbingly enough, _lower_ than her power would merit if she were. The other three are less certain, but they've consistently demonstrated abilities ranging from the AAA- to S range..."

"That one is higher." Signum said, pointing to Amaterasu's image. "I only faced two of them, but she was definitely more dangerous than the other."

Vita rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but you were hurt before she ever showed up. It's not like you'd lose in a one-on-one match otherwise."

Signum remained silent for several long seconds. "I'm not sure about that, actually."

Vita's eyes widened. "Oh. Damn."

Nanoha blinked a few times. "Is... is that so bad?"

"Takamachi... I don't think you or Testarossa realize exactly how _much _Signum was holding back when we were on opposing sides. If she'd really been going all-out, your buddy would be a smear on her sword."

"You exaggerate, Vita." Signum said modestly. "Testarossa is sharp, and strong. It wouldn't be that simple... well, I guess I could say that I'd win about seventy percent of the time, but that's all..."

Nanoha's eyes widened and turned back to Amaterasu's image. "Oh. Wow. That much, huh?" Then, after a few moments of thought, she continued, "Actually, looking back, something seemed off when I was fighting her myself. She definitely withstood at least one thing I would have bet my life nobody could have."

"You mean your psychotic attack that shredded half the continent with rock shrapnel?" Vita asked dryly. "I missed the show, but I sure saw the aftermath of _that_. You devil."

"Y-you exaggerate, Vita." Nanoha said. For some reason, it didn't sound as impressive as when Signum said it... probably due to the fact that Nanoha was blushing furiously. "Anyway, I'll agree she's probably the leader, and the most dangerous one."

"I can't estimate her real abilities for certain. Both of us were damaged when we fought, and her personality made it hard to pin down how much effort she was expending." Signum admitted. "Still, I can at least say her threat potential is rather high."

Chrono nodded. "We'll tentatively label her as an S+ then, and put on a note that she seems to be a unit commander of some sort. Now, let's move onto the things we don't know for sure. Scrya?"

"Okay." Yuuno said. "Before the last battle, I'd managed to acquire some limited data from the AI in one of the Gates the enemy have been activating, and between that and the artifacts we recovered from what we believe to be an old supply depot of theirs, I believe I've assembled a fairly accurate portrait of their civilization.

"They were an multi-dimensional nation, similar to Ancient Belka, and unfortunately that isn't the only thing they had in common; from what I can tell, they were apparently a very expansionist and militaristic nation as well. The translation is probably not exact, but they referred to themselves as the 'Empire of Infinity', or 'Infinite Empire'. Yes, I know, it sounds a little silly."

"Of course." Chrono agreed. "It's a silly name."

"Isn't it, though?"

"It's not as though _we _would use similar hyperbole when naming something." Chrono said with a perfect deadpan.

"Of course we…" Began Yuuno Scrya, librarian of the Infinity Library, before trailing off slightly. "… I hate you, Chrono."

Vita made a sound suspiciously like she'd started laughing in the middle of swallowing and consequently choked on whatever she was drinking. This was in spite of the fact that she hadn't been drinking anything.

"Right. Okay. Moving on." Yuuno said. "First, concrete evidence. They were, as mentioned, an interdimensional empire with marked similarities to the old Belkan empire. Their government seems to have been primarily monarchist; multiple references have been found to 'the King of Twilight', and while there are also hints of a parliament beneath him, he does seem to have been more or less an absolute dictator. But the most important thing, I think, is the sheer scale of this nation. The maps I've found thus far seem to suggest that at the height of their power, they oversaw a territory in excess of twelve-thousand inhabitable worlds and far more uninhabitable, spread across assorted dimensions."

_That _got some attention.

"How… how many do we have, again?" Nanoha asked, eyes wide with disbelief.

"A lot less than that." Vita said dully. "I mean… geez… even if you count non-administered worlds that are just _watched _instead of directly run, the Bureau oversees what, a couple hundred?"

"No civilization we have on record has ever matched the sheer scale of this... how they managed, I have no idea. The infrastructure required to maintain a territory of that size is simply mind-boggling." Yuuno agreed. "Which makes the abruptness with which updates to the system AI stopped all the more confusing. You see, from what I can tell, this Gate, and the Gate on Earth, and the supply depot that these artifacts were located in… all of them ceased to be maintained within a few months of each other."

Signum's eyes narrowed. "That would be a rapid decline for an empire limited to a single world. For an _interdimensional_ empire to fall at such a rate…"

"…Implies they didn't actually 'decline'. They were basically wiped out overnight." Yuuno said. "What caused this, and what happened to the remnants, however... nothing. We have only the most basic of records, and nothing in them has any hints as to the Infinite Empire's last days. What happened is anyone's guess."

Nanoha sighed sadly. "Well… we can guess where at least some of the remnants went."

"Right, though how they've survived this long is, again, anyone's guess." Yuuno agreed. "And now for the part that I can't back up or truly explain. Along with the maps, I downloaded a list of worlds that were accessible by their internal Gate network. And on this list was... well, again, the translation could have been flawed, but it appeared to be a world named 'Al Hazard'. Actually, 'Al' seems to have been common prefix for planet names, since it popped up much more often than..."

Chrono blinked once. "Yuuno." He said, cutting off the ramble before it could begin. "As fascinating as a lecture on planetary naming conventions would be right now, I have noticed a minor detail in your statement."

"Yes?"

"You are suggesting that Al Hazard is _real_."

"Well... yes and no."

"... I swear, ferret, if you don't want me to punt you the next time you turn to your animal form, you'll start making sense."

"Okay, it's like this: what you mean by 'Al Hazard' and what a professional archaeologist or historian means by 'Al Hazard' are two very different things. The golden world of miracles where the impossible is possible? There's never been any evidence that such a thing existed. But there _was _a very powerful, advanced civilization that predated the Belkan empire, and 'Al Hazard' is the commonly accepted name for them in the archaeological community."

"So you're saying this... Infinite Empire..." Nanoha began.

"Could not _possibly _be them." Yuuno finished.

"Eh?"

"They're way, _way _too old, for one thing. There have been a lot of records lost, but we do know that the Belkan empire was founded by remnants of what _we _call Al Hazard, and that this happened within the last few thousand years. The survivors of Al Hazard couldn't possibly have founded Belka if they'd fallen over two-hundred millennia ago!"

"Then what? What is going on here?" Nanoha asked.

"That's what I'm confused about." Yuuno said earnestly. "Their writing is similar, their technology is certainly plausible, even the architecture I managed to see through that portal... all of it is consistent with 'Al Hazardian' ruins. It _screams _Al Hazard to me. And yet everything I know about history tells me that it can _not _be Al Hazard! Honestly, not even really a precursor to Al Hazard! The time frame is just too far off! But they _have Al Hazard written in their territory list. _Right there, in big red letters!"

"Why red?" Vita asked.

"... I... I don't know." Yuuno admitted. "None of the other names on the list are in red. Why did I not think of this...?"

"You were tired and had other things on your mind." Nanoha offered instantly. She was _good _at making people feel better about themselves.

"Red is a pretty traditional color for 'danger' wherever people bleed red." Vita said. "You said this is a list of all the worlds in their territory? Maybe they weren't happy with that one."

"That's... disturbingly possible." Yuuno admitted. "Like I said, we're all just theorizing here. Your guess is as good as mine."

"So... looking at it realistically..." Chrono said, "Whether they're Al Hazard or not... does it actually change anything? At all?"

"Well... in a sense." Yuuno said. "For one thing, it totally upends our understanding of Al Hazard in general... it would mean their history is completely different from what we'd thought. Remember when I said I was writing a book about this case? It's rapidly becoming a series."

"... what I meant," Chrono said, trying very hard to keep the growl out of his voice, "Does it change anything in regards to the _case_, not your _career._"

"It does present," Yuuno said, somewhat icily, "the possibility that if we start beating them too badly, they will decide to go with the tried-and- true 'if I'm going down I'm taking you with me' strategy and use some sort of horrible, reality-collapsing weapon of mass destruction. Which Al Hazard _might very well actually have_."

"... okay, that's something to watch out for." Chrono admitted.

"Could be a problem." Vita agreed.

"We might want to prepare for that." Nanoha said.

"So I presume we're to stay on high alert, then?" Signum suggested. "Since we seem to be restricted to a reactive position, all we can do is make sure to be ready when the time comes."

Chrono nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. We most likely have at least a day or two, so everyone should take this time to rest and prepare... but be ready to move at a moment's notice. For all we know, we may be back on the battlefield within the hour."

_**Nine days later...**_

Nanoha sat, staring into space. Sometimes she twitched a little bit.

One of Arisa's puppies waddled up to her and licked her nose. She did not appear to notice.

Arisa looked at her with some combination of pity and amusement. "Another long stretch of nothing happening while you have to stay on high alert?"

"You might say that." Nanoha, who had spent the last several days mentally prepared to leap into battle at any time and vainly trying to relax despite this, said glumly.

"Er... how is Fate?" Suzuka asked, trying to take her friend's mind off of the current situation. That may have not been the best way to do it, but it's the thought that counts.

"Better. Not one-hundred percent, but better." Nanoha said. "She was hurt pretty badly, in a lot of ways. Arf's been by her side the whole time, and I spend as much time as I can with her, but she's still pretty exhausted and depressed. But at least I don't think we need to worry about her falling apart any more. She's getting better, little by little."

Suzuka smiled slightly. "She's a strong girl."

Nanoha smiled herself. "Yes. She's so quiet and gentle that sometimes people tend to forget _how_ strong. She's weathered worse than this, and as long as we're all there for her, she'll be fine."

"I'd still like to punch her mother in the face." Arisa said.

Nanoha considered this for a second. "The line for that just keeps getting longer..."

* * *

Enlil looked at the results in the impression that, possibly, if she stared at them hard enough they would change.

No such luck.

"This is bad." She said, once again looking over the world data.

"Not as bad as it could be." Amaterasu said supportively. "It could be Midchilda! Then we'd really be dead."

"It's still an administrated world! We've had enough troubles with non-member and unpopulated planets, how are we going to handle the Bureau in one of their own holdings?!" Enlil snapped.

"We could just wait for the next one." Susanoo suggested. "I mean, we were gonna go for five, total, right? So there's others we could find."

"We've taken too long as it is! We can't afford to wait any..." Enlil began.

"Lil. Calm." Amaterasu said soothingly. "Dear, really, you need to cool off and think for a moment. You've already been under a lot of stress, and that Al Hazard scare pushed you over the edge. Just remember; in the end, it came out to nothing. Those old ghosts are gone, and nobody understands their works well enough to use it against us."

"Y...yes. Of course." Enlil said, taking a deep breath. "You're completely correct, of course. I suppose I allowed myself to become... impatient. It's just... ugh, Al _Hazard_. Again! And the technology survived! I cannot _abide _by the thought that some idiot janitor in a Logia containment facility could brush up against the wrong button and ruin everything!"

"To be fair, that was always a possibility with anything that Al Hazard built. You could never quite get past that lingering threat that anything the Thought Lords invented that was larger than a toaster would collapse dimensional walls if you put the batteries in backwards." Amaterasu said, almost fondly. "Look, Majesty. If you insist on us moving at this Gate, this quickly? Why not give our 'allies' a call. They promised aid, let's see what they can do."

"I still can't believe we're actually working with these people." Susanoo grumbled. "In _my_ day, when someone sent cyborgs to kidnap me, that meant they were the bad guys."

"Susa, I know you don't like it, but we agreed to do this. And by 'we', I'm including you, you might recall? Also, what are you yammering about 'your day' for? You're younger than me, so by definitition any day that was yours was also mine, and I certainly don't remember any kidnapping cyborgs in any of _my _days." Amaterasu said.

"... ... ... ... shut up."

"Yes, that's what I thought. Silly puppy. Still, I suppose talking before you think can occasionally beone of your cute points, so I'll overlook it." Amaterasu said cheerfully. "Majesty? Why not give it a try. If we're going to form a backhanded pseudo-alliance based on lies and mutual distrust, we might as well take advantage of it."

Enlil, seeing no particular reason not to, activated the communications device again. As before, a map appeared, and as before, coordinates were revealed. Also as before, she opened the link and explained the situation.

Things began to be rather different at that point, though.

"**_Ah, Rienne... it's been awhile. Yes, that should be fine. We can move whenever you're ready._**" The Director said. Even through the voice altering, he sounded almost cheerful.

Enlil blinked. "Are you certain? This is... well, I mean it's a Bureau world. The security will be significantly tighter than..."

"_**Oh, believe me, that won't be a problem. Actually quite the opposite... a Bureau-controlled world gives us access to addtional resources, and this world in particular has some history with our organization. And, of course, they'll have had exposure to magic. If we can manage a silent insertion, your agents won't draw much attention. We might actually be able to prevent another huge, wasteful conflict from breaking out."**_

Susanoo blinked a few times. "How about a medium-sized wasteful conflict? I mean, don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the _theory _of quiet and subtle. Plus, the team assigned to us is full of interesting people, and I promised Ammy I would try to kill them, so if we could avoid fighting them at all until that changes, it would be nice. But I've found that, in practice, things in the field tend to go wrong a lot. So we should probably go in assuming we're going to be fighting _something_. Probably several somethings."

**_"Well, yes, we'll have a combat team prepared. They'll rendezvous with you on-site, then go under cloak until they're needed."_**

"Oh, good. I mean, it's nice that we'll have some idea where the gun is pointing from when you betr-" Susanoo began. At this point, he was interrupted by Tsukuyomi elegantly and discreetly driving her tiny fist into his spine.

"_**Excuse me?"**_

"Nothing." Tsukuyomi said mildly. "Nobody said anything, and everyone here is perfectly professional and intelligent. How are you?"

_**"I'm... fine.**_" The Director said, some level of confusion audible even through the voice-altering.

"That's nice. I am also doing well. Well, actually, I suppose if I were to carefully examine my situation, it would be rather poor by most standards, considering the twisted nightmarish realm of darkness I am currently inhabiting. Still, I am functioning normally and my brother and sister are here. It feels odd to complain when I have my health and family. Many don't even have that much, you know." Tsukuyomi said.

_**"I'm... happy for you? Look, we ARE preparing for a major operation, so is this really the time for small talk?"**_

Tsukuyomi closed her mouth, and did not say anything else whatsoever. A casual observer might have had a hard time spotting if she was breathing or not.

"_**... ... ... can you still hear me? Did the connection cut, or...?"**_

"But you just requested that I discontinue conversation..." Tsukuyomi said in mild confusion.

"**_Well, yes, but not ALL conversation, we still have a considerable amount of planning to do. Are you absolutely SURE you people know what you're doing?"_**

Tsukuyomi considered this for a moment. "Yes?"

**_"What? Was that a question? Do you know or don't you?"_**

"Maybe? I might know? But I'm not sure? It's a complicated question?" Tsukuyomi either said or asked. It wasn't entirely clear.

"_**That... were those more questions, or were you answering... you don't know if you know? I... I'm not even ... **_... **_Would it be possible for someone else to take over this discussion? Anyone? Anyone at all." _**The disguised voice sounded as though it couldn't decide to be angry or sad.

Enlil, through the use of her years of training and experience, did not laugh. On the outside. "Yes, of course. Let's get down to business, shall we?"

"**_Oh, thank God." _**The Director said.

"For starters, we'll need two sets of coordinates. Where to meet your people, and where to put our world."

**_"Eh?"_**

"We'll need some place to put the planet once we've gotten it out, of course. The original dimension is gone. You don't have to worry about that; I've picked a nice vacant spot. If you like, I can provide the coordinates." Enlil said helpfully.

The Director briefly considered the fact that Enlil would not be offering this data unless she felt it would do him absolutely no good to know it. Still, better to have it than not. **_"That would be tolerable. Likewise, I'll send you the meeting coordinates once I've finished briefing my field team. It should transmit within the next ten minutes or so."_**

"I'll look forward to it. I'll be sending my three main guardians, and... hmmmmm... I'd prefer not to send Precia, frankly. She might be needed here; once the Gate is claimed or it becomes obvious it won't be, I'll be initiating the Rebirth immediately. She understands the process as well as I do, if not better. If something goes wrong, she should be here to give me a hand."

"Also, she's somewhat unstable, doesn't work well with others, and is unfortunately prone to totally losing her damn mind over certain stimuli." Amaterasu said.

"Well, yes, but I wasn't going to say that out loud." Enlil admitted. "Now, the Bureau has some method of detecting our entry, so..."

_"**We should be able to do something about that. With any luck, we can indeed make this a truly covert entry." **_The Director said reassuringly.

"Well... if you can't, it's not as though we'd be any worse off than if you didn't try. Ten minutes until operation commencement, then?"

**_"Ten minutes, and we enter the final phase. Stay at alert and await our next transmission." _**The Director confirmed.

Enlil smiled. _Ten minutes, and we can finally get started._

* * *

**Edited Author's Note: The dog issue mentioned earlier has been resolved. Very suddenly, very unexpectedly, and in the worst possible way. As it turns out, six months was far too optimistic. More like six days. At least he's not suffering anymore.**

**Thank you very much to everyone who expressed your sympathy. You're all very kind, and I appreciate the thoughts.**

**I need a week or so to put my head in order. Then I'll probably start writing something again; though, as before, _Uninvited Guests _still has priority so don't be expecting anything new here for a little while.**


	22. Anything That Can Go Wrong

**Author's Note: At some point between the time that I declared this chapter 'finished' and the time that I completed proofreading it, it got almost 1,000 words longer. I'm not sure what to make of that.**

**Chapter 21: Anything That Can Go Wrong...**

As with the majority of things that end up going horribly wrong, the Battle of Rienne began simply enough.

As per usual, the dimensional tear opened, the sunny plains of Rienne briefly marred by the black rip in the fabric of reality.

The destabilization was more than sufficient, under normal circumstances, to trip the constantly running sensor program maintained by the _Asura, _immediately sending the enforcers on-board scrambling to battle stations to combat the incursion. However, this time, a new factor was in play.

Section Black had existed as long as the Bureau itself had. Despite this, their infiltration of the TSAB's core systems and processes was not exactly absolute. In point of fact, it wasn't terribly widespread at all. Section Black didn't _want _to interfere with the Bureau's day-to-day workings on a huge scale. They were, in their own sick way, trying to protect the TSAB as an institution. Every decision was weighed in terms of costs and benefits to the Bureau as a whole; what was worth more in the long run, two talented enforcers, or superior weaponry for _all _soldiers? Proper justice for a corrupt politician, or access to a valuable artifact and the secrets it represented? They didn't have feelers in every system, they didn't have spies in every unit, because officers of the Bureau needed to be able to work smoothly, for the benefit of the organization.

Of course, it helped that their job didn't really require it anyway. Really, how many departments actually worked with Lost Logia? Cases dealing with the artifacts of the Lost Worlds were the highest priority, and cases dealing with the criminals who trafficked in them were the most sensitive. Most of the Bureau was a simple peacekeeping force, honestly; cases dealing with legitimate Lost Logia were almost invariably shunted to a few specific departments. The front-line naval combat ships, their associated enforcers, and Intelligence field teams. They were the hands and eyes; the ones who found the artifacts, went to the site, and collected them. All you really needed to be able to do was see what they saw, and the ability to slow them down just enough to take it before they could, both of which could be achieved by controlling the output of their equipment. The military had dozens of suppliers, of course, but not as many for the sort of equipment that needed to be compromised. Ships were simple; the central AI managed all the systems, and if you could infect that you had the ship. Field teams were harder... mostly you had to settle for the surveillance and tracking devices, and hope you could use those to spot a window.

As for getting to those items themselves... well, businesses were just as open to bribery as everyone else. Moreso, actually. A component here and there that did not do what the blueprints claimed it did. An extra program or two worked in when the final code was written. In exchange for an unfair advantage in being offered military contracts courtesy of the Founders, the right five or six suppliers would be all-too-willing to make a few small alterations to what, exactly, they supplied. The changes weren't even that extreme; Section Black did work directly for the Founders. They had all the access codes to pretty much everything. All they needed was to make sure those codes could never be traced back to them.

Thus, when the Section Black agent overseeing the current operation used the backdoor into the _Asura's _systems and ensured the sensors wouldn't react to the dimensional tear, and by extension never alert their Enforcers to the nature of the they had no reason not to believe it wouldn't function perfectly. It had, after all, worked perfectly for over six decades. They'd received no indications that anyone had even found out about the nature of the infiltration. And even if someone did, certainly no ordinary agent could have had the skill or resources to get around it.

* * *

Amy Limietta, a very extraordinary agent if she did say so herself, smiled the most evil smile imaginable.

"I do believe it's time for the test run." She said.

Talia Aston couldn't disagree. To the untrained eye, it might look as though they had mated a metal octopus to the _Asura'_s main computer, but that was just the end result of them being, in her professional opinion as an intelligence analyst, _totally awesome._

The problem had not been mechanical, they both agreed; they had found no hardware that wasn't in the factory specs. Amy knew machines, she would have spotted any parts that were _that _out of place. So it had to be a programming problem, and they'd begun working under that assumption... but then, they'd not found anything wrong with the software, either.

So Amy had brought up the point that, if the problem started in production, would there be any signs of anything wrong? It would all be according to factory specs, because the factory specs were themselves incorrect. And so they had come to the conclusion that if the problem was that deeply ingrained, the only viable solution was to start from the absolute beginning. A new processor, one they could be absolutely certain was not compromised, would be needed. But how? They couldn't reliably have one brought in from off-ship, Intelligent Devices didn't have the processing power to handle the combination of magic and tech that made the ship computers work, and besides only the Wolkenritter's could be trusted right this moment and they were Armed Devices, with even less capacity.

So they decided to build what they needed.

They had gone down to engineering, grabbed every spare part they could carry and a few they couldn't (thank God for Ensigns to boss around), and cobbled together a reasonable facsimile of a backup server. And programmed it with enough of an operating capacity to handle a segment of the _Asura'_s absolutely enormous data load. By themselves. Even writing the code. They'd had to bring in a mage for the spells required (Admiral Lindy had volunteered), but beyond that, they'd done the whole damn thing by themselves; personally inspecting every part to ensure nothing got in that they didn't want in, personally programming a cheap but still painfully, annoying complicated facsimile of an operating system.

They hadn't slept much, lately. Coffee had become less of a beverage and more of a constant companion.

As computers went, it was not really military grade. More power than an intelligent device in the computing department, but still not even a tenth of the ship's main computer. But it wasn't truly intended to _replace _any of the main systems. It was more like... a supplement. Actually, a 'filter' might be more accurate. It would take a place between the primary computer and one (unfortunately, only one. It couldn't handle the load of more than one system at a time. Maybe if they'd had a few more weeks to work...) major system, processing the information that this system took in and released... but processing it _cleanly. _The current test was the most important; the long range sensors. It would, if it worked correctly, 'scrub' the data they took in, processing and removing any alterations and delivering the clean data to the display. If that worked, then it was just a matter of adjusting which system was being shunted through the backup; in-depth site sensors, teleporters, whatever they happened to need at the moment. It was sort of a blunt solution, but if all went well, it should give them access to all the major systems they needed to manage the case, albeit only to one of them at a time. They would still be pretty inefficient, overall, with the need to switch out the input and output every time they wanted to change which system could be reliably used... but at least that would be better than last time.

When the traitors had crippled her _Asura, _during the first attack they'd made... Amy hadn't felt that useless in awhile. She knew she would never be one of the heroes, out in the field, risking their lives. But she'd always taken comfort in the fact that she was looking over their shoulders, giving them the assistance they needed to do their job properly. In her opinion, that was even more satisfying in some ways; it made her feel like she was defending the defenders, looking down on them from on high like a sort of guardian angel. And this angel had _not_ enjoyed having her wings clipped.

Amy smirked and powered the thing up. It made a sound not entirely unlike a combustion engine; Talia made a mental note to make sure that overheating didn't become an issue. It was sort of an inelegant contraption. Amy, however, was considerably less worried.

"All right, all right!" She said cheerfully. "Screens up, sensor control is registering to the backup drives... I do believe we're in business, as long as we keep it simple. We'll test teleport later... we can use Chrono as a guinea pig, he won't mind. As long as we don't tell him."

"I have to admit, you're a genius."

"Yes, I know." Amy said humbly.

"No, I'm serious." Talia said. "I never could have put together something like this on my own. You have a real gift."

"I'm serious too." Amy said. "I _am _a genius."

"... oh. I thought you were joking."

"If I were joking, I would have said something hilariously untrue, like 'I am _not _a genius'." Amy said. "Hee, hee, hee! See how unrealistically funny that is? I love it."

Talia shook her head. Were all fleet agents this odd? Certainly none of them were like this in Inte... the Secretarial Corps. "Hey, what's this reaction? I'm not familiar with these readings." She asked, pointing a finger towards the screens. Anything to change the subject.

"Oh, these two feeds represent what the different computers are processing. The right screen is what the main server _thinks _the sensors are detecting, and the left is what they are _actually _detecting according to our backups." Amy explained.

"Oh. So the main computer, which is compromised, thinks the sensors are not detecting anything of significance." Talia said. "And the backup server, which is not compromised, thinks they have detected the dimensional rift that signals the beginning of an attack."

"Right, that's what..." Amy began cheerfully, before the implications of this cut her off mid-sentence. "Um, we should probably tell somebody about that."

"Seems like a good idea."

* * *

"Oh, nice place!" Amaterasu commented, her gaze scanning the Rienne countryside. "Sunny, temperate... I wonder if they've got any decent beaches?"

"Very nice. The oceans here are really more like large lakes, though, so don't expect much in the way of waves." A soft voice said from behind her.

Susanoo smiled. One instant she was cheerily looking over the plains, the next she had the man who'd chosen very unwisely to sneak up on them on the ground at her feet. At spear-point. He hadn't seen her move _or _release her device.

Annoying as she was, he had to admit Big Sis was pretty cool sometimes.

"Ouch..." the man said mildly. He was, physically, perhaps the least interesting individual Susanoo had ever seen. Not particularly tall or short, not especially heavy or thin, not well muscled but not exactly weak-looking... he was simply, utterly, bland. Even his hair was brown. Not sandy-brown, not chocolate-brown, not brown with a slight blond highlight when the sun hit it; just basic, blah, unappealing brown. "We're supposed to be on the same side, you know. Kill me and the deal is off."

Amaterasu smiled. "Sorry. Instincts. Besides, shouldn't you be a little more capable? I thought we were meeting a combat team here."

The bland man smiled. It looked as though someone had painted a smiling face onto a mannequin; completely artificial and so boring that Susanoo sort of hoped Ammy would bring the spear down just to make him more interesting. "I'm just the contact man. The team you're here to meet..." The man began.

Tsukuyomi looked up. "There."

Her siblings followed her gaze to the top a nearby small outcropping of rocks... where eight identical black-clad figures stood silently. And by 'silently', it might be more accurate to say 'they were not even breathing'.

Susanoo blinked a few times. "... I would swear that those things weren't there five seconds ago. I forgot how good their stealth systems were."

Amaterasu narrowed her eyes. "Why only eight? Is that going to be enough for this operation? Twelve didn't do a terribly good job last time."

The bland man's smile did not grow the slightest bit more natural-looking. "Those were search and capture models. Designed to take in dangerous targets intact."

"Intact? They held me still by _stabbing me_." Susanoo protested.

"Fine, designed to take in dangerous targets _mostly _intact. The models you see here are the heavy combat design. Better armor, more on-board weapons, better tactical programming. Much better suited for a major conflict."

"Hey, as long as they don't stab me, we're square." Susanoo said. "Right, guys?"

The Black Cats turned their heads in his general direction, but did not respond.

"They aren't big conversationalists." the contact said. "Now, there's a few final details to go over, before we commence. Would you stop pointing that thing at my throat so we can cover them?" He asked, pointing meaningfully at Kagutsuchi.

"Oh, fine, if you're going to be a baby about it." Amaterasu said, pulling the spear back. She reached down one-handed and lifted the man bodily back to his feet.

"Thank you. Now, you've all been cleared to give orders to the Black Cat units, but do keep in mind that they won't accept commands that would endanger the mission, and we can revoke your access at any time. Beyond that, they'll kill who they're commanded to kill without remorse or hesitation. Oh, and we're on a clock because the insertion was detected." He finished, almost as an afterthought.

"... ... ... I really, truly wish I could say that surprised me." Amaterasu said. "What happened?"

"Details are still coming in, but at this point it doesn't really matter. We've been detected, and we'll have to compensate; first of all by moving up our timetable."

"Yeah, except we don't _have _a timetable because _someone _informed us that we could make this entry undetected." Amaterasu grumbled. "Tsuku, start your search, we're going to be up to our eyeballs in dimensional police in about ten minutes."

"Well," The contact said, "I wouldn't go _that _far. We've received no indications that our diversion of local authorities was anything but successful, and as for the _Asura _herself, well... it's too late to stop them completely, but it would be a mistake to assume that we don't have some back-ups in place. There are options."

* * *

"Is there anything in particular we should know about this world?" Was the only question that anyone asked. Signum, specifically; somehow, she seemed to be the one who should be asking things. Nobody was exactly sure why, Signum just gave off an air of super-competence. If you asked a question that she hadn't already asked, then it was probably a stupid question.

"Only one major thing: it is inhabited. An administrated world, in fact. It's not exactly next door, but there _is _a major city relatively close to the zone we'll be landing in." Chrono said grimly. "We cannot allow the battle to spill over into it. We've sent word to the local government, but it's a city of five million. They've started drawing civilians away from the edges of the city, but there's absolutely no way they could manage to get the entire population evacuated or into shelters quickly enough, so it's up to us to keep that from being necessary. Take them down hard and fast, fight two or more to each one of them, and be aware that we're anticipating interference from... third parties, based on the unsuccessful cyberwarfare attack earlier. The faster we can accomplish this, the better."

"All right." Hayate said, "Then the sooner we get going the better as well. Rein, let's..."

"No." Shamal said.

"... eh?"

"No to you." Shamal said, pointing to Hayate. "And no to _you_." She continued, pointing to Fate.

"But-!" Fate began.

"Shamal, I-" Hayate began.

"No means no, girls. I allowed you to attend the briefing, but that is as far as I am allowing you to proceed. Doctor's orders." Shamal said firmly. "Miss Testarossa, your barrier jacket was pierced by an assault spell, followed shortly by electrocution. You were closer to death than you perhaps realize. Honestly I would recommend you take a month off, though I recognize that to be wishful thinking. I will not, however, allow you to go back into the field after barely more than a week to recuperate. You may be in acceptable combat condition by some standards, but you are not in _perfect_ condition. Your reflexes and ability to channel magic reliably could be affected, and mages have been killed by smaller handicaps."

"I understand you're concerned, but I can't just sit back when my friends need me." Fate said firmly. "I've gone into battle before in worse condition than this."

Shamal raised one eyebrow. "Are you actually attempting to use the fact that your health was frequently neglected, for months at a time, _less than two years ago..._ as a reason for why you _should _be sent into a combat situation?"

"... ... yes. Well. When you put it like that..." Fate said, her firm and confident tone no longer quite so firm. "... but I want to help..."

"Fate." Nanoha said. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine, and I'll personally feel a lot better knowing you're safe."

"Nanoha, we don't even know for sure what's waiting for us." Fate said. "I need to be there, in case..." _In case Mother is there,_ "... in case the situation is worse than we expected."

"Testarossa." Signum said. "I understand, truly. But if you are slowed down by your condition, then you'll be a detriment, not an assest. We have more than enough power to accomplish the task at hand, with or without you. Rest."

Nanoha realized it was probably for the best, but she couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the way that Fate seemed to merely sigh in resignation and sit down. _Why does everything sound more convincing coming from her?_

_"_Hey, my body is fully repaired. How about I just take on more of your mana?" Arf said. "It won't be as good as having you there with us, but it should up my effectiveness."

Fate smiled. "Well... I guess if that's the only way I can help, it will do."

"Good, that's one settled. And now..." Shamal said, her gaze turning to Hayate. This would be the annoying one.

"You can't order me to stay behind, Shamal. I prefer to think of you as my family, but that doesn't mean I'm not your master." Hayate said.

"Of course not, mistress. I wouldn't think otherwise." Shamal said sincerely. "I just want you to tell me how this feels."

She took her hand and pressed one finger gently into Hayate's leg just above the knee. The results were rather morbidly fascinating, honestly.

Hayate's eyes widened almost imperceptibly, and her skin seemed to grow a shade paler. "F-fine." She said, somewhat unsteadily.

Shamal sighed. "And this?" She said, moving her finger about an inch up Hayate's thigh and pressing in with slightly more force.

"F-f-f-fine." Hayate said through obviously gritted teeth. Her breathing was noticeably faster and more shallow. "D-doesn't... ugh... hurt at all."

"Mistress..." Shamal said softly. "I know you want to be with your knights. I know you don't like the thought of us going into the field without you. And believe me when I say that we all love you for that concern. But you are still recuperating from a life-long ailment, Hayate, and while your injuries in the last battle may not have made your condition _noticeably _worse, it's safe to say that rehabilitation has been slowed. I'd prefer not to slow it further, if I could."

"I know it's... not ideal, but if I use the Unison program, I can..."

"Hayate." Shamal said, a hint of iron creeping into her voice. "Rein does not heal you. She doesn't improve your condition, she just disguises it. And while she's disguising it, no recovery is taking place. You were afflicted for years with a debilitating curse. Your muscles have atrophied from disuse, the nerves in your legs are have only begun properly regenerating within the last few weeks. You have seen for yourself how sensitive they are, I believe?"

"S-somewh-aaaah!-at..." Hayate gasped.

"The best cure for your condition at this point is _time, _and if you ever want to be able to walk without magical assistance you _have _to take that time. If it hadn't been an emergency, I wouldn't have allowed you into the field during the last encounter. Now that we have a surplus of combatants, I'm putting my foot down.

"But, Shamal, I..."

"I am very aware that as your Servant, I cannot forbid you from going. But as the closest thing to your Doctor on this ship, and you being a temporary agent under a parole appointment, I very much can find you medically unfit for duty, and if you continue to insist on hurling yourself into danger I will formally do so." Shamal said, her tone taking on an unapproachable air of finality.

"You should just listen to her, Mistress." Signum said. "Shamal makes up for her somewhat wobbly personality in civilian life by being harder than steel where her patients are concerned."

Hayate sighed in resignation. "I suppose you're right..."

"I'm 'wobbly'? What is that supposed to mean?" Shamal asked indignantly.

"I'm not certain myself. The word just seems to fit you." Signum said frankly.

"If the shoe fits, wobble into it." Vita agreed.

"_Et tu_, Vita?" Shamal said, traces of annoyance working their way into her voice. "Well, Zafira doesn't think I'm wobbly, do you Zafira?"

Zafira turned away from her and pretended he couldn't understand human language. Nobody here, just a dog...

"Oh _really_. After all the work I do supporting you three, here you are ganging up on me." Shamal said, crossing her arms in a pout.

"I feel your pain." Nanoha said, stepping up to aid a comrade in the war against mild teasing.

"Thank you, Miss Takamachi. The next time you are in my care, you will get a lollipop." Shamal said.

Chrono sighed. "Could we... could we focus? Please?"

"Better now than in the field." Lindy said jovially, sipping her tea.

Chrono turned to her, eyes narrowed. "I'm watching you. I know you have an evil plan and you won't tell me what it is."

"I wouldn't do that." Lindy said warmly.

"Yes you would. You have done exactly that." Chrono said. "From this point on, I'm going to assume you have an evil plan whenever we do any sort of operation together."

"Chrono, you shouldn't talk to our mo- the admiral like that." Fate chided.

"You see, Chrono?" Lindy said cheerfully. "Why can't you be more like your sister?"

"Being the only boy in the family is lame." Chrono muttered. "All right, people. Everyone who is staying here at Dr. Shamal's mercy..."

"Care. They're _in my care, _not _at my mercy_."

"... please return to Medical with her. Everyone who isn't, prepare for battle. Admiral, please let us know when you've returned to the bridge, and..."

"That will be fine." Lindy said. "Admiral Mizetto has asked to oversee bridge control personally, and she's already on-board."

"... ... ... okay, first of all, _stop bringing VIPs onto the ship without telling me_. Second of all, you _do _have an evil plan. You do, and she's in on it." Chrono said, eyes narrowed.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Lindy said demurely.

"Yes you do. Tell me, right now: what will _you _be doing while the Admiral is commanding the mission?" Chrono demanded.

"Nooooooooooothing." Lindy said in a sing-song tone.

"I... you... I... we... you... oh, you know what? I don't even care anymore. Everyone just get ready to teleport." Chrono grumbled.

* * *

In the observation booth, the Section Black operative looked at the readouts in annoyance.

The contact man and the combat team had met with their impromptu allies, that was good. But the _Asura... _honestly, these people just did not know when to leave well enough alone, did they?

Somehow, the crew of the _Asura _had managed to circumvent the Section Black protocols on their main systems. That should not have been possible; those subroutines were not simply programs, they were an intrinsic part of the entire system. What had they done, cobbled together an entire backup drive out of spare parts and programmed it personally in a week, without any Bureau standard software? That would just be insane. The Director would be _furious _when he found out.

Still, there were options. Section Black ran on more than just cyborgs and altered computer code. They were, after all, responsible for the capture and reverse-engineering of stable Lost Logia. It was only natural that they kept a few for themselves, wasn't it?

The vaguely pyramidal device he'd taken from storage was hard to look at directly. Not because it was bright, but because it was just _wrong; _the human mind didn't process it well. Nobody was exactly sure why... something about the runes, the strange material it was made from, something about the shape (or more specifically, the way the shape always seemed to be _slightly _different than it had the last time you looked at it). Something about this small mechanism just... didn't work. Didn't fit right into reality.

And to make matters worse, the thing wasn't all that useful. Oh, it _worked_, it just worked for a very specialized function in a very small window of time. This particular device, you see, altered dimensional currents. Violently. Only for short bursts, and only a few times a day. Nobody was quite sure why; possibly this was not its intended use, or perhaps it was broken. Either way, it had proven sort of useless for almost anything, and had never been released to one of their client companies for public production. After all, the altered currents weren't powerful enough to destroy most interdimensional vessels, and they lasted such a short time that using them to interfere with any spells moving through dimensional space would require advance knowledge of the spell's source location _and _exactly when it was being cast.

Like now, with the probe observing the _Asura _reporting the tell-tale signs of energy gathering for a mass teleport, and the on-board computers recommending activation... now. The operative pressed three runes along the sides of the strange device, all of which began to glow a sickly green.

Teleportation was such a sadly delicate magic, wasn't it?

* * *

Amy smiled into the flickering screen attached to her inelegant monstrosity. "Teleport functioning as expected, Admiral. Transmission away, and not a sign of interference from _THOSE BASTARDS!" _Amy suddenly shrieked. "How did they do that? How did they do that? I hate them I hate them I hate them!"

On the bridge, Admiral Mizetto said severely, "Officer, _calm down_. I need a status report."

"The signal's been scattered by something! It wasn't a software thing, this was just a blatant external assault to scramble the feed mid-transport!"

"What happened to the team in transit?"

"It looks like... yes, the auto-safeties kicked in, so they all at least landed on habitable worlds, but they sure didn't land where we wanted them to!"

"Can you compensate?" Mizetto asked calmly.

"I don't know! Maybe!" Amy said. "I'll get working on-"

And then, far away, the Section Black operative assigned to this particular case smiled a bit vindictively and activated another device in his control console. A much more modern one this time.

And on the _Asura, _there was a loud 'crack' followed by a sudden and significant decrease in ambient volume as a great deal of active machinery ceased to be active. Amy sat in complete blackness for five seconds, until the emergency generator went on to preserve life support and some basic lighting.

"... restoring primary power. Since apparently if they want to, they can just screw subtlety and cut the main reactor." She said. "Why did I not see that coming? Why did I not recognize that shifting secondary functions through a different terminal would just make them attack primary functions?"

"The same reason I didn't: a general lack of sleep combined with the adrenaline rush of thinking you succeeded." Talia said promptly.

"... that was a rhetorical question. And why are you still here? Shouldn't you be with the field team?"

"I'm a data analyst, not a field agent. I'm not even a mage; you just assumed I was because I'm a new person and all the new people you meet are superhuman magical prodigies."

"Fair point." Amy admitted. "Okay then, you're my new assistant here. Let's get to work."

* * *

The normally smooth ride of teleportation was a bit bumpier than Nanoha remembered. The shimmering lights that danced before her eyes were noticeably more chaotic and random than the typically uniform white glow.

Oh, and when she landed, she landed hard.

_"Ow ow ow!" _She muttered, rubbing her sore bottom. "What just happened?"

"Wark." The penguin said.

"... eh?" Nanoha said, blinking at the penguin. Well, it wasn't exactly a penguin; for one thing, it was bright green, and it had four flippers instead of two. Also, the scenery around her was not exactly tundra; it was rather nice, except for the fact that she was the only one there except for alien penguins.

_Er... anyone nearby? Can anyone hear me? I think something went wrong with the transmission. _Nanoha ventured, using short-range telepathy. When there was no response, she closed her eyes and drew on her power to send the broadcast wider. _Hello, _Asura? _Amy, I think something's gone wrong. I don't think I'm at the target zone, I'm all alone, and there are penguins. _

_"_Wark." The penguin said, sniffing at her dress.

"If you bite me, I'll smack you." She said warningly.

"Wark."

_Nanoha? It's Fate. _Said Fate's familiar voice in her head. _Amy's busy, so they asked Bardiche and I to handle communications since most of the systems on the ship are out. _

_What? How did that happen? _

_We're still working on that. But the point is; something scattered the feed before the teleport to the target site could be completed. I already talked to Arf, and she's apparently in the jungle somewhere. She already had to fight off some kind of man-eating plant._

_Is she all right?_

_She said that she wishes it had been a man eating **animal**. She's hungry and she doesn't like vegetables.  
_

_Ah. What about the others, then? Nobody got through at all?_

_Apparently not. This is pretty obviously a delaying tactic to keep you from the scene, and we walked right into it. Admiral Lindy thinks they purposefully waited to cut the power so they could disperse the Enforcer team and hamstring our field operations, and I tend to agree. _Fate said. _We're almost totally blind up here, so we don't know your coordinates right now. If you can sit tight for a little bit, we should be able to get you on your way. Are you in any danger?_

The penguin tapped its beak lightly against Raising Heart, then waddled away, apparently satisfied with whatever it had been inspecting.

_Not at the moment. _Nanoha admitted.

* * *

The normally smooth ride of teleportation was a bit bumpier than Signum remembered. The shimmering lights that danced before her eyes were noticeably more chaotic and random than the typically uniform white glow.

Oh, and when she landed, she landed hard.

Smoothly taking the landing on her feet and dropping to her knees to absorb the shock, she examined her surroundings. Rienne was supposed to be a temperate world, with climate not too dissimilar to that of Earth's milder regions across the majority of the planet. She, however, was in the desert. Further, she was alone.

_What is the situation? _She asked, transmitting to the command ship.

_Oh, Signum, I just spoke with Nanoha. It seems that there was a problem, and..._

_We're scattered?_

_Yes, that's correct. We're still contacting some of the members of the team, figuring out where you are and how to get you to the target site in time to..._

_Very well. Continue your work; we will act as a forward unit, so reinforce us as soon as possible. _Signum said, cutting off the link. Then, putting power behind the thought, she sent, _Wolkenritter. We're going ahead under our own power. Gather to me, and we'll set up the group transport once we're all here**.**_

_Do you want me there, too? _Shamal inquired.

_Stay by Hayate's side. If the _Asura _is compromised we cannot leave her defenseless. _

_Understood. If you require my aid, just let me know._

Signum severed the link again, and waited. As human mages could be 'attuned' to locations, allowing ease of teleportation, so could the Wolkenritter; attuned to the Tome of the Night Sky, to their Mistress, and to each other. No distance could keep them apart for long if they did not desire to be separated.

Whoever had decided to attempt to scatter them would soon be learning this the hard way.

* * *

"It's done; we've probably bought you at least thirty minutes or so. Use it wisely." The very boring man said.

"And you?" Amaterasu asked of him. She didn't honestly care; she got the feeling that whether he stayed or left she'd have forgotten who he was within the next five minutes. She just thought she should be polite.

"Withdrawing. The Black Cats relay everything they see and hear to HQ; if you need further assistance, ask one of them. We'll get to you." He said. His smile was just creepy, now. Thankfully, it didn't stick around very long because he himself left the scene shortly after in that odd, static-burst teleport these people used.

"All right. We have thirty minutes, he said? Well, Tsuku doesn't need help searching, so maybe we should just relax, set up a perimeter, and..." Susanoo began.

"Multiple incoming." Tsukuyomi said. "Three new signatures have materialized inside the scan field. No, wait... four. The fourth is attempting to evade detection, but I believe it may also be running a scan of its own and couldn't completely hide. It might have arrived earlier than the others, I'm not certain."

Amaterasu groaned. "Thirty minutes. Suuuuuuure. Still, if there's only four, I guess they at least managed to split the enemy force. Tsuku, you hold here and keep looking. Susa and I will run interference. And Susa? No mercy. Wipe them out."

"I hear you." He said, the two of them taking off to go meet the hostiles. "If it's that Signum, I won't have any problem being completely vicious. I got the feeling that if I hadn't sorta cheated, she probably would have beaten me in the end. I can't afford to hold back with her."

"Hmmm… Signum… swordswoman? Pink hair? Body worthy of fine artworks?"

"Er… yes? I mean, she's certainly _pretty, _but you're going a little weird on me..."

"She's mine."

"Eh? But we have duel to settle, and... oh. Oh, no. Please, _please_ tell me you're not..."

"No arguments. I'm still your unit commander, and I am _ordering _you to leave my gorgeous sexy battle princess to me. You can have whoever she's dragging along with her." Amaterasu said firmly.

Susanoo narrowed his eyes. "You know, you tell _me _not to play around, but when you start to talk like that I wonder if _you're _the one who's not taking things very seriously."

Amaterasu sighed in satisfaction and blushed slightly. "Ooooh, Susa, that obvious jealousy is just so cute! Don't worry, as lovely as she is, nobody could ever take your place in my heart. I'll still spoil you just as much as always even after I've snared her for my very own."

Without a word, Susanoo pulled slightly further away from her and slowed so he was behind her rather than beside, putting enough distance between them that he'd be able to see her coming _(Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Bad choice of words!)_ if she tried anything. _Honestly, something's gone wrong if I'm more afraid of my allies than my enemies…_

Several minutes after they left and long after they'd vanished from view, Tsukuyomi pointed towards the cyborgs and said, "You forgot these."

Nobody responded.

"I should think of something to do with you then, shouldn't I?" She asked the silent black figures. "I suppose a few of you to guard me would be sensible, but I don't really need all eight... hmmmmm..." She said, blinking a few times in intense thought.

"Ah. I have an idea. Do you, by any chance, have the coordinates of the hostiles who didn't arrive here?" Tsukuyomi asked. "And have you any way to reach those coordinates from here? Because I just thought of a way to make this delaying tactic far more delaying."

_

* * *

_

As the Wolkenritter minus one assembled on Rienne, the first to greet them was thankfully not hostile. Yuuno, who had arrived directly from the Infinity Library, waved them down. "Um... not that I'm not glad to see you, since that alternative was solving this whole situation on my own... but I was expecting to see more of you."

"Yes, there was a minor problem. It's fine, we should be able to deal with them until aid arrives."

"Are you certain? Because... honestly, coming in waves didn't work well last time."

Signum shrugged. "It wasn't by choice, as I said. We'll just have to make do. Do you have any idea what we're dealing with?"

"Well... so far, it seems to be just the three, and two of them have spotted us and are on the way to engage. They'll be here within five minutes. No sign of Precia Testarossa, but... there is _something. _An anomaly. None of my scrying spells can get a good lock on it, and I haven't visually confirmed anything for fear of being noticed myself." Yuuno said.

"I'm not sure I like the sound of 'anomaly', Signum." Vita said. "We should watch our step."

"Agreed. We'll work in teams; Vita and I will engage the two _en route_, while you go with Zafira and try to locate the third. She seems to be the one responsible for finding their targets, so if you can neutralize her..."

"If I stay low to the ground and move on foot, I should be able to slip underneath them to locate the third." Zafira agreed. "Can you keep up?"

"Er... probably not, especially if you're going as a wolf. But I guess I could ride you." Yuuno offered.

"Snrk!" Vita said.

Zafira's perpetual scowl deepened. "Are you quite serious?"

"What's the... oh! Oh, I don't mean like this, I... here." Yuuno said, closing his eyes in concentration. A brief flash of light later, his position in the air was filled by a small tan ferret. "There, see?"

"... this is still notably undignified." Zafira said, shifting into his own animal form and allowing the ferret to cling to his mane. "But I suppose we'll cover the distance more quickly this way. Hold on tight."

As the blue wolf descended to the ground and broke into a run, Vita turned to Signum and said, "You know, there were about fifty jokes I coulda made right there, and I didn't make even one of them."

"Yes." Signum agreed. "We're all very proud of you."

_

* * *

_

"Here they come. Only two... so the others are probably split off somewhere to search for Tsuku." Susanoo said, two dots at the edge of his vision rapidly growing more distinct. He and Amaterasu halted their own flight, allowing the enemy to come to them. "You know, as I sit here, it occurs to me that we forgot the cyborgs. Guess it turned out to be for the best... anyone who finds Tsuku will have some very unpleasant surprises."

"Is that so?" Amaterasu said in mild disinterest. "And here I thought that I left them behind on purpose."

"Eh?"

"Tsuku is the only one here who can find an inactive Gate, and she has the Driver. Which means she's also the only one that those lovely toys need to keep alive until the Gate has been activated." Amaterasu said coolly. "I can trust them not to stick a knife in _her _back, but not ours. So they can defend her, and _only _her."

"Oh, okay. I never would have thought of that... guess that's why you're the boss. You're the clever one."

She batted her eyes in his direction, smiling warmly. "Ooooh, trying to butter me up? Flattery will get you everywhere, if you do it right."

"... I don't want to go to everywhere." He said, again moving slightly further away from her.

"You are _no fun_. Now, do you remember the battle plan?"

"You deal with Signum, because... well, I know exactly why you _really _want to deal with her, but in my head I'm telling myself it's because you're the one with the best chance of taking her..."

"Oh, I'll 'take her' all ri-"

"_And I handle her wingman._" He loudly interrupted, cutting off the double entendre. Seriously if you let her get started she'd go all day. He extended his senses and tried to focus his vision; neither were all that great, but the enemy was close enough that he could get a decent idea of what he was dealing with, "Who is... nobody I'm familiar with. Huh. Darn, I was hoping for Fatie..."

"Looks to be the little girl in red. Vi something. Careful, her attack power in close range is on a par with yours, so she could be a real... wait, what was that last bit?" Amaterasu said, her eyes suddenly lighting up and her smile taking on the air of a mischievous cat. "By 'Fatie', you mean that cute little blonde thing? The one who looks the same as that charming Testarossa maniac's daughter? Barrier Jacket that is highly inappropriate for her age? You were looking forward to seeing her, then?"

"Well..." Susanoo said warily. "Yes, but when you say it like that I wonder if I should be saying 'no' instead just to be safe. What's going through that twisted mind of yours?"

Amaterasu was practically purring at this point. "It's just nice to see you taking an interest in things, that's all. She's a bit young, certainly, but it's hard to deny that her appearance is very striking. If your tastes gravitate in that direction, who am I to judge? You have big sister's stamp of approval."

"Approval for what? What are you thinking? I just want to check on my new apprentice, that's..." He began. Then, halfway through the sentence, he stopped dead. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as the realization of what she was suggesting slammed into his mind like a freight train hitting a pane of glass. "You... are you seriously suggesting that I would...! _She is ten years old!_ Don't project your perversions onto me, you sick freak!"

"Guilty conscience?" Amaterasu asked conversationally. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your 'unorthodox tastes', dear heart."

"When we get home? Sparring ring. I am _kicking your ass._"

"_Very _guilty conscience. Ah, forbidden desires and the aches they bring to the heart..." Amaterasu said dramatically.

"Gaaaaaaaah!"

* * *

_We're nearly to the target, Vita. _Signum thought. _Be ready._

_That boy with the axe. You said he's the one you fought before? The one who tried to kill Hayate as a distraction? _Vita asked.

_Yes, _Signum thought. Then, after a brief consideration of the implications of this, she followed up with, _but don't let your temper run out of control, Vita. I don't mind you using your anger as a motivator, that's just your style, but don't let it cause you to make a foolish mistake._

_I don't need you to tell me that! I just wanted to confirm with you before we engage that you're taking the other one. He's **mine**. _Vita retorted.

Signum sighed. Realistically, from what Signum had seen of the boy's abilities, Vita should be a good match against him. The problem was her temper; Vita seemed relatively in control now, but Hayate was an even more sensitive point for her than the rest of them. Berserk rage was a double-edged sword; for all the help it could be in a good offensive, it was just as likely to get you killed. In the end, however, the decision was easy to make: she trusted Vita, end of story. _Fine. Just try to take him alive and with most of his limbs still attached._

_Well, that's really up to him. _Vita said as they came within speaking range of the two hostiles.

Signum drew her sword and said, "I am obligated to inform you that if you surrender without a fight, it will be taken into consideration at your trial."

Amaterasu smiled. "I missed you too, kitten."

"Kitten _aga_…" Signum began, catching herself before she could finish snapping. Her cheeks reddening slightly, she said, "…fine. You'll be taken in by force, then."

"Ooooh, you should have mentioned that before. You can take me by force _any_ time." Amaterasu purred.

"Take. You. **_In. _**By. Force._" _Signum said, enunciating each syllable as if she were biting off her words. It was a strange sight to see; somehow, the warmer Signum's face looked, the colder her voice became.

_Don't let your temper run out of control. _Vita's mocking voice said in her mind.

_Don't you have something to do? _Signum asked, doing a very good job of removing any trace of embarrassment from her mental voice. Vita was _almost _fooled.

Of course, it may have helped that Signum had a point.

The blue-haired boy smiled… _smiled! _The sheer _gall _of it!... at her and said, "It looks like you and I will be opponents this time, and you have _no idea _how happy I am that you're here. If you like, we can try to get some distance from these two so we don't have to listen to the perv…"

"Don't." Vita said. "We're not doing the buddy-buddy act. I'm here to break you, end of story."

Susanoo blinked. "Damn, you take this too seriously. Fine, we'll do it your way and get right down to business. Follow me." He said, taking off towards a secluded area so the two battles could proceed without interrupting each other.

"Have fun, Susa! Please cut her in half!" Amaterasu said cheerfully, waving good-bye.

Then, without so much as an 'en garde', she attacked.

From _behind._

Signum felt her continuing embarrassment grow further; she'd allowed the general lack of hostility in Amaterasu's bearing to make her lower her guard slightly, or the woman could never have gotten so far into her guard, no matter how fast she was. One moment she'd been floating serenely across the skies, the next she was behind and to the left of Signum and bringing that spear around in a graceful arc that was clearly intended to take the other knight's head off.

But being 'in' Signum's guard was not the same thing as being 'through' it.

She whipped her right arm, holding Laevatein, into the path of the incoming spear. The two blades met, sending up red sparks as their respective inner fires clashed and reacted. Without waiting for the locked weapons to separate, Signum snapped her left hand into a short chop with the sheathe; it was an awkward motion, considering the positioning of her body, but this early in the battle even something as small as a bruised rib might eventually add up to victory.

Unfortunately, the set of ribs she was trying to bruise seemed to be aware of this. Amaterasu seemed to almost spin her spear, sliding it along Laevatein's blade in order to bring the weapon's shaft into line with the incoming sheathe. But to do so, she was forced to lighten her pressure on Laevatein's blade, allowing Signum to work the weapon free and go for the throat. At this extreme range, mere inches from each other, Signum's two shorter weapons had a significant advantage; there was no way the woman could get her spear into position to block in time. This woman had impaled her; Signum had no intention of holding back in the slightest in power _or _attitude. _My apologies, Lady Hayate, but in this case defeat means death, so victory must be my only priority...!_

Their general proximity made a wide slash impossible, so Signum stabbed. The range was so tiny that and her strike so fast that dodging should have been impossible.

Yes, it really should have been.

Really.

Amaterasu did not appear to move; rather, her head was simply three inches to the left of where it had been before, instantaneously. In nearly any other situation, Signum would have been terribly impressed... to have seen that attack coming and dodge it, at point-blank range? It required combat reflexes bordering on the oracular. Further, she had left Signum overextended and, as a result, vulnerable. She freed one hand from her spear and physically struck Signum's sword arm, slamming the extended limb directly into the other, sheathe-wielding arm. Then, with her spear freed, she almost instantly leveled a battle-ending thrust of her own. There was no hope of defense; the only counter Signum could realistically use was to disengage completely and propel herself backwards. She felt the displaced air from the spear tip flutter over his face, regardless, but managed to avoid having her head sliced in half.

The two women hovered there, separated by a scant few meters and both realizing that was really no distance at all.

"Very nicely done. Most people never see the first swing coming, but you're the first person in a long time who's managed to last out an entire routine without a single injury. You must have been even more wounded than I thought in our last match." Amaterasu said cordially.

"And to you. I would have wagered my life that you couldn't have dodged at that range." Signum said.

"Eh? Oh, you mean that thrust at my neck? I saw it coming. Actually, left the opening so you would go for it." Amaterasu said offhandedly. "I had to get my weapon free once we got all tangled up with each other, so I exposed a vulnerability that didn't exist."

Signum blinked. "That was quite a risk. Even if you saw an attack like that coming, the margin of error was a fraction of a second between a successful dodge and a deathblow."

"Eh, I've managed similar moves before. Actually, I've managed most things before." Amaterasu said. "Honestly, I should have avoided getting so close to you in the first place, it's just... you're so _pretty_."

"Are you taking this the slightest bit seriously at all?" Signum asked incredulously. Honestly, this woman's mercurial, twisted mind was just hard to follow in general.

"Of course I am! I take my duty very seriously indeed." Amaterasu said. "But come, you must have noticed; we're both knights. Both commander of our unit. Both fire-conversion elements. Both totally gorgeous. We have so much in_ common_, is there any doubt we were meant to be?"

"... you are not convincing me of your seriousness." Signum said.

"I'm fighting for love! There's nothing more serious!" Amaterasu said gallantly. "I won't rest until you acknowledge my feelings for you and agree to become my personal kitten!"

_"Stop calling me that."_

"Ooooooh, I've gotten hissed at. That's a baaaaad kitty_..._"

* * *

"All right, I think we're far enough away." Susanoo said when he could no longer clearly see his sister or Signum, just the occasional jet of fire. "You sure you want to do thi-WHOA!" he said, as without the slightest warning, the girl's hammer made a beeline for his skull and he barely managed to intercept with enough speed to keep his head intact.

"What did I say," Vita growled, "About trying to act all buddy-buddy?"

"Geez, you're hostile!" Susanoo said. Raijin's blade was ringing like a bell; that hammer had a shocking amount of mass behind it for such a small weapon. Another dangerous little girl, then?

Well, fine by him.

He swung his arms to dislodge her, his weapon trailing lightning as he forced the girl in red back... or so he thought. She flipped in midair, her hammer loading a cartridge as she did.

"**Raketenform!" **The weapon shouted, pieces shifting and realigning as it did. The hammer that came at him _now _was far more vicious than the one he'd pressed away, pulling the girl out of her spiral by simply blasting her in his direction with a rocket engine, and attempting to punch through Raijin like a jackhammer when the weapons met.

"Tear through it, Eisen!" She snapped.

_"_**Explosion!" **The hammer said, loading yet another cartridge and redoubling it's efforts. A tiny hairline crack began to appear in Raijin's blade.

Susanoo blinked in shock, and then narrowed his eyes. "Are you so weak you'd break for something like this?" He demanded of his device.

"**Lightning Blade!" **The axe said by way of reply, bursting into light. The two weapons howled as they attempted to rip each other apart through main strength, and in the end they were broken apart not by their own wills, but by the violent interaction of their magical auras... well, interacting violently.

Vita shook her head to clear the ringing in her ears that the sudden explosion had left, and saw her opposition doing much the same. _Okay. Not bad. _She admitted grudgingly. She didn't admit it out loud, of course, she was still _Vita. _

_"Ow..._ yeah, there's something going on here that I missed." Susanoo muttered. "Look, would you at least tell me what I did to piss you off so much?"

"The girl. The one you tried to kill as a freakin' _distraction._" Vita snarled. And that really did make it worse, in her opinion; that this little twerp had been willing to just cut down her master without so much as looking her in the eyes. He hadn't even cared who she was, he'd just been trying to get Signum off his back. He would have _killed Hayate_ and he didn't even _care._

_"_... ah. Ah-ha." He said. "Yes, so she's your master too? I should have seen that coming. For what it's worth, that wasn't my first choice either... I prefer to settle my duels fairly when I can. But my younger sister was in danger, and I needed to deal with that as quickly as I could. Don't make the mistake of assuming you're the only one with people you have to protect."

Vita narrowed her eyes. "And you expect forgiveness?"

"You'd be a poor knight if you gave it." He said calmly. "I just want you to understand why I behaved in such a disgraceful manner... and to apologize for this. You see, I have a mission to accomplish, and I haven't been taking it seriously enough. Ordinarily I wouldn't mind, but I'm started to worry... I might be hurting my master and my sisters by not working hard enough to grant their wishes, you know? So even though you're supposed to take me alive, I can't return the favor. I'm going to have to try to kill you."

Vita shrugged. "Emphasis on 'try'. And since you're being honest, so will I: I _will _be trying to bring you in alive because that's what the girl who _you _tried to murder wants from me. _But I won't be trying very hard_."

Susanoo smiled slightly. "I feel a little better, then."

"It'll pass."

"So... I take it we have nothing further to discuss?"

"Looks that way."

At this point in a battle, these early stages, the exchanges were often light. Simple. The two combatants gauging one another's power, learning one another's styles. Basically, most duels of this level will, despite (or perhaps because of) the power and skill of those involved, start off rather small.

Vita and Susanoo's next clash, only the second of the encounter... created shockwaves that could have shattered glass at five kilometers.

And that _was_ starting small.

* * *

"Sit." Nanoha said.

The penguins sat.

"Roll over."

Roll, roll, roll.

"Good boys!" She congratulated, throwing the birds some treats. She'd discovered that they seemed to eat small aquatic plants that grew in the shallows, and since she had nothing better to do she was playing around with them a bit.

If truly pressed, Chrono and Arf could pull off a personal dimensional transport. Nanoha had... er... well, been a bit spoiled in that department. The only times she'd ever _needed _to teleport anywhere, she'd had someone there to handle it for her. She resolved to learn how to do it herself as soon as this mission was over, inefficiencies or no inefficiencies. Sometimes you just needed to go somewhere in a hurry.

"All right, guys, let's try fetch, next... hmmm?" She said in confusion as the small posse of birds she'd put together began waddling towards the ocean as fast as their little legs would carry them. "Did I do something wrong, or..." She sighed sadly.

"There is something right behind me, isn't there?" She said to nobody in particular. She turned, to find two very familiar and unwelcome figures staring silently at her.

"Only two? That's odd, I thought they fought in groups of three to six..." She muttered, hefting Raising Heart and leveling it at the black figures. She ran through a list of their capabilities in her head; barriers, capture chains, wrist-mounted cannon, aim for the center of body mass for the power core, they're... they're not _alive_, don't hold back just because they used to be, do _not_...

One of the two extended its hands. Large, razor-edged blades emerged from its wrists, elbows, and knees, leaving the thing basically a walking food processor. Each of the already unpleasant looking weapons took on a faint red glow, most likely some sort of energy to reinforce the blades or increase cutting power. Or both. Nanoha's short career had already taught to assume it could _always _be both.

The other fell back several hundred meters... and practically exploded into an assortment of long-range weapons clacking out of points all over the limbs and torso. She didn't recognize many of them, but she could identify both energy and (highly illegal) mass-based weaponry. She was fairly certain she even saw small missiles racked in one of the shoulder-mounted cannons.

"Oh." She said mildly, gazing upon the much-better-armed-than-she-recalled assailants. "So, you two are... different models, I guess."

_Fate_? She thought_. Remember when I said I wasn't in any danger? The situation has changed a bit._

And then Tsukuyomi's 'improved delaying tactics' began trying to murder her._  
_


	23. Dancing Flames

**Chapter 22: Dancing Flames  
**

The jungle was ablaze.

One of the two black figures who had launched the attack was responsible for that; some kind of napalm grenades or something to that effect. Apparently they'd reasoned that if their target wished to use the undergrowth for cover, the best thing to do was get rid of the undergrowth all together. Fortunately, the smoke and heat provided a sort of cover all their own, albeit a very uncomfortable one. While they may have hidden her from view as she crashed through the embers, they also clouded her vision and rendered her nose more of a hindrance than a help. Still, it was okay; she could pretty easily extrapolate where the assailants were based on the origin point of the assorted bullets, beams, and missiles.

And honestly, other than the fact that she was rushing through burning vegetation and being bombarded, Arf was having a _great _time.

She couldn't help it! Ordinarily she ran on her own, natural linker core supplemented by maybe five, ten percent of Fate's mana pool. Now she was taking as much as she safely could, nearly _fifty. _The jump from 'five' to 'fifty' didn't actually make her ten times more powerful, unfortunately; it was sort of a 'diminishing returns' situation. Still, the boost was… noticeable. Not least of which in that it resulted in an adrenaline rush like you would not _believe. _

Oh, and her hair had grown about a foot longer and much spikier than usual. She wasn't sure what was up with that, but she decided not to question it. Several television shows she'd seen on Earth suggested that power made your hair bigger.

Glowing like the sun, she leapt out of the smoke, bearing down upon one of the cyborgs with a feral grin on her face and enough power to flatten a city block gleaming in the palm of her hand. The creature raised some kind of shields, but honestly it might as well have been trying to stop a wrecking ball with a tissue. As she watched the figure in black slam into the thick layer of smoldering embers that now covered the jungle floor, kicking up a vast cloud of ash, she couldn't help but let her grin widen.

_Think of it as a blow for forest fire prevention. _She thought in intense satisfaction.

The second, the close-combat one, engaged then, the blades flashing with the lightning-quick strokes. The strange red glow surrounding the blades seemed to be some kind of barrier-piercing effect, and so she was forced to defend with a combination of magic and physical parries as she continuously reformed defenses around her arms. It wasn't easy, unfortunately; the way the thing was moving was too stiff and mechanical, but it was definitely _some _kind of programmed martial arts. And to make matters worse, the one she'd brought crashing down was standing again, and taking aim with a large cannon that extended from the length of it's entire left arm and that... joy of joys... loaded a Belkan cartridge before her very eyes.

_Upgrades, then. The last ones couldn't take that much punishment. _Arf smiled, electricity crackling between her fingers as she swatted aside a glowing razor. _Well, I guess I'll just have to learn to deal with that in my own special way._

_Fate should take days off more often!_

* * *

Nanoha was pretty sure she could win.

Their fighting style was simple, but effective. One bombarded from a distance, forcing her on the defensive. Then, while she was focused on keeping her shields intact rather than striking back, the other came at her with those barrier-piercing blades in an effort to bring her down in close combat.

The problems with this scenario were two-fold: first, her barriers were really, really good, and so did not immediately break even under weapons designed specifically for doing so. Second, bombarding Nanoha, getting into a _long-ranged duel _with _Nanoha_, was not a good way to win a fight under any circumstances.

Two pink bullets ripped through a small storm of missiles, zig-zagging among the projectiles and prematurely detonating them. They then, without any loss of energy coherence, flashed toward the closing bladed cyborg and forced it back, preventing it from getting that essential time he needed to pierce Nanoha's barriers.

Yes, she would eventually win. The problem, as it had been last time, was that winning was going to take _forever_.

The cybernetic creatures seemed to be less focused on avoiding damage than the last batch had been, but they compensated for this by being generally harder to hurt in any event. Axel Shooter might have knocked the creature back, but the outer shell was more 'dented' than actually 'damaged'. She doubted the internal components had even been rattled. She'd need a major attack to seriously have a shot of really hurting these things, and while they couldn't beat her they could definitely keep her from holding still and concentrating. If she didn't want to be chipping them down for over an hour while the rest of the battle went on without her, she'd need a new plan.

But that was okay; new plans were one of her strong points. And while she couldn't _quite _run her typical training regimen while on high alert, she hadn't spent the last nine days doing nothing at all. Physical training needed to be cut back, but it could be replaced with mental training. Focus techniques, efficiency drills...

... perfecting new spells...

"**Stardust Fall." **Raising Heart said.

She didn't go quite as crazy with it as she had the first time; she wasn't planning to do _that _again any time soon. Right now, she needed a distraction. Luckily, there were a great many rocks scattered along the ocean floor and in the shallows. She wouldn't even need to shatter the crust.

Rather than the giant chunks of land she'd hurled at Amaterasu, she was now bringing up the equivalent of a cluster bomb; instead of dozens of huge rocks, _thousands _of very small ones. They could still do a great deal of damage if they hit in one big mass, but she wasn't actually aiming to do that; this spell was not terribly fast, and she was pretty sure the targets could dodge it if she tried for a focused strike, and an unfocused one wouldn't do the job. But that was fine, because she had a _much_ better idea.

She raised the stones into the air between her and the two cyborgs, and with a flick of her wrist, sent them into a spiral.

And both cyborgs froze, scanning the air seemingly at random.

It was natural, really. Chrono had said that most likely, their uncanny synchronization came as a result of being plugged into a shared combat computer. And with no visible eyes, she'd reasoned that they probably didn't rely on organic vision so much as some kind of sensor package. A sensor package that would obviously need at least a little time to adjust to the fact that there were now several thousand targets in the air instead of one. And with that same overload of data being poured into the same central computer via two different channels...

A few free seconds was all she needed.

She leveled her staff through the hail of rocks and fed two cartridges into Raising Heart. "**Loading, stand by. Divine..." **

"Release it now!" Nanoha commanded. The staff cut the Stardust Fall, letting the pebbles fall back to the ground below, leaving clear sky between her and the two cyborgs. They had most likely been pretty close to compensating for the stone whirlwind in any event, because they locked onto her almost instantly. The close-range model charged, while the long-range sent out another salvo of those small missiles; the projectiles looping outwards around and in front of its charging companion.

Well, they got points for effort, anyway.

"...**Buster." **

The blast of pink light tore through the sky, ripping through the incoming missiles and prematurely detonating them before slamming dead-on into the bladed cyborg behind them. And into it's...

_... Barrier? No, no, no! _Nanoha thought. She'd been hoping these models wouldn't _have _those. "Break through it!"She commanded, her device loading a third cartridge and the beam increasing in intensity accordingly. _Come on, come on, if I can bring down one of them the other is no prob... oh, no. The other. _She thought numbly, watching as the one not on her beam threw off two spent shells. Cartridges?

She abandoned her attack spell and raised one hand, the pink circle of her own shield appearing before her outstretched palm. The crimson beam that struck her was no match for one of her own attacks, and definitely no match for her shields, but it was enough that she was glad she'd not taken it dead on. Unfortunately, she was now back on the defensive... and through the clearing smoke, she could see that the one she'd managed to blast was still intact, if not in the best of shape. The blades mounted on it's upper body had been snapped off, and large chunks of armor were visibly cracked or even on the verge of shattering, but it was still flying under its own power. Still, she doubted it could manage much in the way of close combat anymore, so she'd at least managed to claim an advantage.

Then, as if reading her mind, it withdrew it's damaged blades, and out snapped a variety of ranged weaponry. Meanwhile, the one that had until now been handling bombardment moved forward and extended its own set of glowing red combat blades.

_What? They're not specialized after all, they're the same design with multiple modes? Now that's just unfair. _Nanoha thought. _And all the good AIs learn from mistakes, so I probably can't pull that trick again. Sorry, everyone, but it looks like I'm going to be stuck here for awhile..._

* * *

"I don't believe this…" Christine St. Vlas said. "How could you just… how could you just leave me like this?"

"It's not that I _want _to. It's just that… well… the Academy _finally _accepted me." Darian Chrysanth, her friend since childhood and boyfriend since they'd been old enough to realize what romantic attraction _was _said. "I'll already be starting later than a lot of cadets. This could really be my last chance!"

The young couple were in a rocky patch right this moment; Darian had, that very afternoon, received a communiqué stating his acceptance to the Naval Academy as a Bureau mage. The fact that he would be leaving their homeworld of Rienne for, at the very least, months, did not, obviously, sit well with his girlfriend, and the two had agreed to meet out here... a series of rocky bluffs and valleys that bordered the western side of the thick forest located near their hometown. The forest itself was a popular site for hikers, hunters, and the like, but this barren formation of rock outcroppings jutting out of the otherwise verdant landscape was generally avoided. Most of the rocky deposits were composed of rather soft stone that was very unsuitable for climbing or the like, and there was frankly nothing else to see. But to the two of them, this place was special; this was the place where, after wandering lost in the woods for nearly five hours on a hiking trip gone wrong, they had finally managed to spot a landmark they recognized and realized where they _were_, and realized they were going to _live_, and in the mixture of fear and relief and near-delirium had shared their first-ever kiss.

As a result, they had felt that this was the best place to discuss the fact that there might not be many more kisses in their immediate future.

"So? Do you _need _to go to the academy? Is there someone _forcing _you to join the Bureau military?" Christine snapped. She knew she was being unreasonably hostile, but sadness was rarely a reasonable emotion.

"I… Chris. You know I don't want to leave you. But this is something I've wanted to do since I was just a kid, you know that. I can't just abandon my dreams!"

"Oh, please. Your _dreams." _Christine said. She knew she sounded too harsh, but honestly she couldn't help it at the moment. She just felt so helpless, and the helplessness in turn made her feel angry. "You were five years old when you decided to do that! It's a child's fantasy. You're leaving me over some childish delusion!"

"No! Of course not! I love you… if I didn't genuinely think that the Academy was my place, that I could do real good there, I would never leave you for a second. But don't you see? I _have _to do this. And I'll be back! There are plenty of posts for planetary security; I should be able to get one here, or nearby!"

"You can justify it all you want; the fact of the matter is, we might not see each other again for months, even years, and it's all because of some… some kid's pipe dream that the military is _cool_." Christine said bluntly. "Tell me; exactly what's so _cool _about leaving me behind to go risk your life?"

And that was when a red and blue comet slammed into the ground not thirty feet away from them.

Susanoo hit the ground first, his feet dragging up trenches in the rocky soil as he was pushed back by the relentlessly oncoming Vita, a jet of flame erupting from Eisen's rocket. They had hit at nearly sonic speeds, and even though their strength was approximately equal, momentum was on Vita's side and Susanoo found himself being pushed further and further backwards from her sheer force. She'd driven him back nearly a quarter-kilometer before he managed to firmly plant his feet and halt the charge, shattering the ground beneath them. Their momentum stopped, both drew back their weapons and brought them together in a resounding crash that hurled them both apart and tore up the already crushed landscape at their feet even further.

Susanoo smirked. "Oh. My. Gods. _Yes. _I swear, every time I turn around, someone interesting pops up! Why have we not done this before? I'm sure we've been on the same battlefield at least once, you should have looked me up!"

Vita did not smirk. "Do. You. Never. Shut. _**UP?" **_She roared, spinning in one complete circle and flaring the engine on her hammer. It was impossible to hear the loading over the roar of the rocket, but Susanoo saw at least one of those shells they used fire off from the main body of the weapon. He felt it for sure, then, when the impact from her hammer nearly tore Raijin out of his arms. He rolled with the impact, spinning in a quick circle and bringing the axe at her midsection in a horizontal chop.

It was, perhaps, the least technical battle ever. There was no semblance of strategy, just two engines of destruction attempting to crush each other with sheer brute force. Each collision of their weapons sent thunderous shockwaves through the mostly empty wilderness; the surrounding forests cleared of animals at a record pace, more than one of the rocky outcroppings collapsed as the chaos sparked small avalanches.

"We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" Darian and Christine sobbed, holding onto each other for dear life and huddling as close to the ground as they could.

Susanoo fell back, coming to land on a nearby plateau. The latest exchange had forced him to hold his weapon at an unusable angle and left him with the options of either falling back to untangle his arms or getting a hammer shoved down his throat when Vita could attack and he couldn't block in time. He shifted his grip, recognizing that he had at most three seconds before Vita closed on him... and learning exactly one second later that his estimation had been overly generous.

The hammer impacted brutally. It didn't impact brutally on _Susanoo_, granted, because he dodged back and Vita came in too fast to compensate, but it still impacted brutally. The entire damn cliffside collapsing with the two of them on it was proof of _that. _

Vita fought to right herself in the shower of rock, and felt she'd finally managed to get some semblance of sure 'footing'... when she caught, through the chaos, a growing blue light. She raised up one hand, a red aura bursting to life around it.

"**P****anzer Schild." **

**"Thunderclap!"**

Blue and red light once again collided violently, the wave of lightning tearing through the falling rock and slamming into Vita's barrier. It viciously exploded, energy flowing around and, unfortunately, a little bit _through _her. Her nerves on fire, Vita fell back from the battle and fortified her crumbling defenses before a more final attack could be launched. She hit the ground and skidded to a halt, sparks still dancing in her hair and between her fingers. "Urgh... fighting back is only going to make it hurt more in the long run!" She snapped. She prepared to charge yet again, when a strangely familiar sound caught her ear. She turned, blinking in confusion, and her eyes widened in shock and horror when she saw two people, just kids really, maybe fourteen or fifteen at the oldest, huddled together and sobbing in sheer terror right in the middle of the damn war zone. _Oh, Hell. Have they been here the whole time? I better leave **that **out of the official reports, wouldn't look good at my trial to say 'Accused almost killed some kids, but in her defense she was really busy at the time and didn't see them'. _

"What the... where did they come from? Have they been there the whole time?" Susanoo said, lowering his weapon at the sight of why the little berserker had stopped trying to crunch him.

"Dunno. Look, If you come anywhere _near _these two I'm..."

"Hey, last thing I want is civilians running around. You take your time and deal with 'em, I don't mind waiting."

"Oh. Uh, thanks." Vita said, blinking a few times in surprise. She'd sort of been expecting him to keep right on attacking. Well, she supposed she shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Now, to deal with the situation at hand. In her opinion, the best way to deal with a surprise was to get angry, so she turned to the two cowering civvies and snapped, _"What _are you two doing here? Are you complete idiots? Why the Hell didn't you run for your lives as soon as you saw us?" Vita snapped.

"We're gonna die... we're gonna die..." The two kids muttered, eyes wide.

Vita sighed. _Geez. They're halfway out of their minds, aren't they? _In a softer tone, she took the hat off her head and said. "Listen, we're gonna clear this area, but there's running fights all over the place. You run around, you'll get killed. I'm gonna put you in a containment barrier, should keep you pretty safe for a little while. This hat is part of my armor, and it will show up on my ship's sensors-" _If they ever start working again_, "-like a beacon. When they detect some of my armor isn't on me, they'll figure out something's wrong, notice you, and extract you to somewhere safe. Until then, you _stay still_, keep inside my ward, and don't go wandering into anymore war zones. And no, you can't _keep_ the hat. It'll disappear next time I reset my armor." Honestly, the odds were good that none of that would actually happen; anyone on the _Asura _who actually _did _detect a severed portion of her armor would most likely just assume it had been cut off. But if the story and the trinket gave the kids something to hang their hopes on, they at least wouldn't panic and do something even dumber than sticking around to _watch_ a conflict between AAA+ combat mages. Then, once the fight was over, she could personally make sure they were okay. Not perfect, but decent.

"Here." Susanoo said, landing next to her. Vita tensed, but all he did was take off his coat. "This is pretty decent protection, even without my active magic behind it. If you do get caught in another duel, you can both hide under it and run away from the fighting as fast you can. Should at least keep stray shrapnel and junk from hurting you. Same deal, though: soon as my barrier jacket resets, it's gone, so don't get attached."

Vita blinked a few times. "Huh."

"What?"

"Nothing important. Look, let's... get out of here. Get away from them." Vita said. It was spoken in a noticeably more civil tone than any she'd used with him so far. "These kids have had enough of a scare."

"Okay. Lead the way." He said agreeably.

Christine and Darian, huddled under a tattered white coat and clutching a bunny hat, watched them depart.

"I don't think I want to go to the Academy anymore." Darian said.

"Um... well, I think _I _do now." Christine said, a strange light in her eyes.

"Wh-what? Weren't you scared?"

"Well... yeah, of course, it was terrifying. But... well... looking back, I guess it was also... pretty amazing?" She said hesitantly. "I mean, did you see the way they moved, the things they _did_? Don't you want to learn how to _do_ all that?"

"No! Not anymore!"

"Yeah... I think I'm putting in my application when we get back home." She said firmly.

"I can't believe you're... you're _leaving me _for some childish fantasy!" Darian said.

"No! Of course not! I love you… if I didn't genuinely think that the Academy was my place..." Christine began.

* * *

By now a good distance from the arguing teens (oh, let's just say it like it is: the arguing _children_), Vita and Susanoo flew to find somewhere a bit more peaceful to have their small war.

"That was... pretty decent of you." Vita said begrudgingly.

"Eh?"

"Those kids. I'm supposed to be the 'law' here, they were my responsibility. You didn't have to help."

"Oh! Well, we _are _supposed to avoid civilian casualties. Besides, if you let kids die every time they do something stupid, pretty soon there won't be any kids left, y'know? Gotta watch out for the next generation."

Vita arched an eyebrow. "That's odd coming from someone who's been beating on the next generation as often as you have."

"Er... well, I mean, I've got my orders and all. And I've tried to be gentle, even though I'm like, 90% certain that Tanako started it by trying to get past me when I totally told her not to." Susanoo said.

"... _who _started it?" Vita asked. "Who is Tanako?"

"And even then, I've been really careful! They were all using restraint and such, so I did too and I haven't tried to _kill _anyone. Er... um... well, except for, well... you. And I... uh... I guess that girl with the black... wings..." He briefly trailed off, before blurting out, "I'm sorry! I was really sure that Signum would intercept the attack in time, really! It's not like I actually wanted to hurt your master, I don't even know her! It was just that I've gotta watch out for my sister, she's so _tiny_, and it's a big brother's _job _to watch out for his baby sis, so I needed to get to her as quick as I could, and..."

"Look, just don't bring it up. If I were in your shoes, I woulda done the same thing, and if you were in my shoes you'd have gotten just as mad about it. I get that. I'm not going to say I forgive you, but I'm willing to... look, she's fine. You didn't actually hurt her. So I don't forgive, but I guess I can... forget. Stop taking it personally." Vita said. "Besides, I gotta save my really bad side for that Precia bitch."

"She's got an off-putting personality." Susanoo agreed. Then, since since there was really nothing to add to that thought other than 'Really? Ya think?' said in a very sarcastic tone, he chose to break the sudden silence with, "Um... you were pretty cool back there too. The way you just stopped the whole fight as soon as you saw civilians in the line of fire, and then just totally took charge. Oh, and then you gave up your holy symbol!"

"My what?"

"My sister said that hats have religious significance to your culture. Said she couldn't think of any other reason you'd get so angry over damage to a self-repairing piece of clothing..."

Vita snorted. "Religious significance?" She asked in disbelief. Then, as she considered it... was that really so far off?

She thought back to the first time she'd ever worn her new armor, to the sheer wonder on Hayate's smiling face as she saw the outfit she'd designed simply materialize out of thin air._ "__Oh, you look so cute, Vita_!" The little girl had said in delight. "_Even better than I imagined_!"_  
_

Thinking back... had anyone ever complimented her on her appearance before that moment? Had anyone ever smiled at her with such simple, genuine joy? Even once in her entire life? Whatever the case, at that exact instant her armor (_Especially _the hat that Hayate had added to the design in delirious excitement mere _minutes _after discovering via shopping trip that Vita had a soft spot for stuffed bunnies) ceased to be something she wore and became Something That Hayate Gave Her. Protecting it was... important.

"Religious significance." Vita said softly. "Maybe not _exactly, _but that's... close."

"Then it was pretty neat of you to give it away to help those kids, even for a little bit." Susanoo said again, smiling cheerfully. "You're a good knight."

"... I guess you're not as bad as I thought you were." Vita admitted, a mild grumble in her voice.

"Yaaaaaaaay! You don't hate me anymore! You'll need a nickname then. Vita, Vita... hmmm, it's kind of simplistic, but how about just 'Vi'? Yeah, I like that. Vi."

"_Hey! _I'm still gonna beat the tar out of you, doofus! I'm just saying that... y'know, you're not as much of a bastard as I thought. So maybe you were telling the truth when you said it was nothing personal, and I really did overreact because it was my master being threatened. Doesn't mean I like you, just that it also won't be 'personal' when I beat you down."

He pouted. "Hmph. Even when you're being nice you're still pretty mean, Vi."

"Do _not _call me that! We're not friends, you don't get to give me a nickname!"

"But it's cute. It suits you."

"Why is it whenever you talk, to me it just sounds like, 'Please hit me, Vita. Please beat me within an inch of my life.'?"

"Aw, now you're just plain mean again! Really, Vi, you need to learn to lighten up!" Susanoo whined.

"Arrgh! Look, what did I tell you about being all buddy-buddy? We! Are! Not! Friends! A lack of hatred is not the same thing as affection! Stop talking!" _Damn, and I thought Takamachi was annoying! At least she only **asked **instead of just randomly assuming we were suddenly pals!_

"No talking at all?"

"Not a word!" Vita snarled.

"Are you sure? I've got one more thing to say and it is very important."

"Grrrrr... _fine! _What do you have to say that's _so important?"_

_"_Well... just thought you'd like to know. I know I said I'd let you lead the way, but in the future you probably shouldn't let people fly behind you like this..."

Vita tensed her grip on Graf Eisen. _Crap, I didn't even think about it, but I'm giving him a clear shot at my back! How could I have been so stupid? _She'd let his open manner throw her off her guard. She'd thought she'd learned her lesson after the _same damn thing _had made her underestimate Takamachi far, far too many times, but apparently not. And now if she didn't hurry, she'd be paying for...

"... because well, frankly, considering your armor's design... it's just... well, flying right there... Look, I swear I'm not _trying _to, but you are sort of directly in front of me and I can totally see up your skirt." Susanoo finished.

Oh.

What.

The.

Hell?

Vita's eyes widened slightly. This was the only reaction she showed to this information. This was not because she was calm, quite the contrary. She was silent because intense embarrassment and mind-numbing fury were currently warring for control of her brain, and it was not yet decided which would claim victory. As such, her mind was effectively blank until one emotion managed to overcome the other.

Susanoo began to wonder what he should do when Vita remained completely silent for nearly a full minute, just... flying straight ahead. She didn't even bother to adjust her armor or anything. _This is really awkward... is it possible I've misjudged her, and she's actually a very modest and shy girl? Oh no, she's not talking to me because I hurt her feelings! Aw, that's no good, I can't go around doing that to an innocent girl! I'd better think of a way to make it up to her. What would I do if it were another girl I know?_

... ... ... ...

_Yeah, that's useless, the girls I know are too weird. Tsuku wouldn't understand the problem, Queen Lil would hurt me, and Ammy would probably just ask me if I enjoyed the view.__ Okay, okay, I need to think this through again... when you hurt a girl's feelings the first thing to do is reassure her, right? But this is a delicate situation, and if I say the wrong thing then I'll sound like a pervert. So I need to be subtle about it. Sneaky. Make it like... a reassuring compliment, but one that's not directly aimed at her. Yeah, there's no way that could possibly go wrong!_

"Don't worry, you've got nothing to be ashamed of. Your underwear is perfectly normal." He said, reassuringly.

What followed this minor, offhanded comment was the sound of a hammer slamming with great force into a _very stupid _man as mind-numbing fury won out.

* * *

_Do you smell that? _Zafira asked the ferret clinging to his back. He'd abandoned the sky completely, choosing to run and take advantage of whatever cover he could find. He was hoping to simply catch the girl off-guard and get this unpleasantness done in a single, quick strike. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but there was no reason not to make the attempt.

_Er... at the moment, all I can smell is wolf. _Yuuno thought from his position in Zafira's mane. _Sorry. _

_We're getting close. But there's something else near her... not exactly a scent. The **absence **of a scent, a small space that smells like nothing. Can your magic tell us anything more?_

_No, not if we want to take her by surprise. She's running a wide-range divination over the entire immediate area. She's not looking for us specifically, so keeping us shrouded from it isn't too hard, but if I drop my shielding and start a scrying of my own, she's almost certain to spot it._

_Very well. Then at least stay alert, and assume the worst. In a one-on-one battle, I would say that I could at least hold her long enough to allow for reinforcements to arrive, so with two of us we should be able to trap her...  
_

_If she's actually alone. _Yuuno said, seeing the Guardian Beast's reasoning. _I'll do my best to help, though I've already seen that what little I have in the way of offense is basically worthless against her. She's roughly on Nanoha's level and... well, defending myself is fine, but there's only so much I can do to harm someone like that._

_Hmmm... then you do that. Stay clinging to me, and focus entirely on defense. I'll focus completely on attack, holding nothing back._

The ferret smiled self-deprecatingly. It looked sort of weird; ferret faces weren't designed for smiling. _And between us we'll make one whole mage?_

_We'll make one **exceptional **knight**. **_Zafira corrected.

_Well then, call me Sir Yuuno, I guess. _Yuuno replied, laughing silently as he did. The mirth didn't last, however, as the faint glow of silver light began to become visible through the tall grass they were rushing through. _She's just ahead. Even if I can't smell her, the air is thick with magic. She must be trying to force the scrying, get it done more quickly. Risky with a delicate magic, but running it in the background of the last fight almost backfired a few times, so it makes sense._

The wolf halted his run, sinking lower to the ground and beginning to stalk. Yuuno thought it was very interesting, actually... being a ferret, he was sort of hardwired to be the one being _seen _from this perspective, and seeing it from Zafira's perspective was interesting. The grass was taller than Zafira and packed so tightly that only a tiny hint of the obviously brilliant spell light could be seen through it, and yet the wolf moved through it so smoothly that even Yuuno could barely hear the blades rustling. As big as Zafira was, he could be _quiet _when he wanted to be.

They found the girl quickly enough; she wasn't moving, after all. She'd found a small meadow where the tall grass wasn't quite so annoying, and was standing there in the center of a six-pointed silver star. Her device was planted in the ground in front of her, her hands held out at her sides, and her eyes closed in concentration.

_Keep us shrouded. I'm going to try to bring her down with a single strike, and if I want to pull that off without killing her it is essential that she not sense our presence until it's too late. _Zafira thought. Yuuno thought he 'sounded' remarkably calm, even for him. Hunter's instincts? Just how animalistic was the average familiar, mentally? He knew that Arf ate dog food eagerly enough, and... ugh, that train of thought led to some very disturbing thoughts concerning whether or not Lotte Lieze's jokes about eating him were actually jokes. Best not to think too hard about it.

The blue wolf's muscles bunched in preparation to pounce, its eyes and fur taking on a white light of their own. The initial spell was a complicated binding that would hold the girl still, followed by the best direct-damage shot he knew. If they both connected while the girl's defenses were unfocused, they should be more than sufficient to leave her unconscious and trapped in the space of seconds. But Zafira was a hardened veteran, and he knew it was safest to assume that something would go wrong. Particularly since he still couldn't help but notice that something really, really _didn't _smell...

The fun part of expecting the worst is that you're never disappointed. And when Zafira's smooth, silent charge was met by a solid wall of _nothing _shimmering into the figure of a scentless man in black, he was barely even surprised. He released his prepared spells instantly, a mixed wave of white spikes and chains roaring out to engulf the new threat and send it flying before it could even properly engage. The creature was buffeted and hit the ground with its limbs pinned by Zafira's bindings. Unfortunately, even the split second it took to deal with this was enough for another problem to emerge; the red glow in the corner of Zafira's eye was enough proof of that. There was no way he'd get a defense up in time if the beam had already been fired...

The red glow was overshadowed by a green glow as a barrier burst into existence through no effort of Zafira's, the energy bolt from the second black figure impacting harmlessly off the emerald circle. Zafira was glad he was in wolf form... his human features might have betrayed some embarrassment at the realization that a few seconds of combat action was enough to make him completely forget about the ferret clinging to his fur.

Tsukuyomi turned to the noise behind her and raised an eyebrow. "That took longer than expected." She picked up her staff and leveled it at the trapped Black Cat. The gem took on a silver glow, and the binds shattered like glass. As the cyborg rose to its feet, she said, "Hold them here. Kill them if you can, but hold them at all costs. The fewer interruptions I have, the faster we all get what we want."

As the girl took to the skies and abandoned the battlefield to continue her search, Zafira and Yuuno weighed their options.

_Do we go after her, or deal with this? _Yuuno asked, glancing between the two black figures.

_Can you repel both of them while I handle pursuit? _

_Probably, but I don't know their ordinance. If they have some kind of barrier-piercing capabilities we could have a problem. Plus, that leaves us with the problem of being outnumbered if we catch her.  
_

_It won't do for us to get shot down before we complete our mission. _Zafira agreed. _But we can't spend too much time here, either. We kill one, then you hold the other while I track her down._

_Kill one? Do you have to put is so bluntly...? _Yuuno asked.

Zafira sighed, even as he bared his fangs and prepared to combat the pair of killers approaching them. _No backbone. I suppose that's just what comes of turning into an animal smaller than my mouth. _

_Hey! I'll have you know the ferret is a proud and noble creature... _Yuuno began._  
_

* * *

As it happened, Vita's advice to the young couple wasn't wrong. Staying in hiding and waiting for extraction was the right plan, even if only because they would have had to cut through the forest to reach their home.

And the forests in the area were not safe at all.

Signum zipped between the trees, straining her eyes to catch the flashes of blue and red among the green that marked Amaterasu's location. She snapped Laevatein in the direction of the latest one, the blade segmenting into its Snake Form and tearing through the underbrush toward the blur and...

_Damn. _Signum thought, as once more the chain blade pierced only undergrowth and once more the blue haired woman disappeared from her view, only to briefly reappear as another flicker of color among the trees. She flicked her wrist, pulling the blade (and a fair amount of slashed plant matter) back to her hand. **"Schwertform!**" The sword exclaimed, drawing itself back into a solid blade.

She honestly wasn't sure what to make of Amaterasu anymore. The battle thus far had lacked the intensity of their prior duel, Amaterasu maintaining the playful, flirtatious personality she'd shown only briefly in that encounter. But Signum recalled with perfect clarity the pain of that spear being driven through her body; the flesh-searing heat of the blade an intense contrast to the cold, pitiless eyes of the woman wielding it. Signum was not certain if Amaterasu simply had a horrible temper she hadn't yet managed to press, legitimate multiple personalities, or the constant cheerful come-ons were simply an act to make her lower her guard.

Which was not to say that the flirty goofball wasn't giving a good accounting of herself. In fact, she was very, very vexing if only because it was _like _fighting a completely different person. She didn't react the same way as the warrior Signum had faced once before. The razor-sharp, ruthless assault she'd been expecting was instead... the only word that fit was _playful_. She was all feints and curves, false openings and attacks that seemed to have no purpose beyond forcing Signum to react to them. It was almost like a dance, rather than a fight... until Signum thought she'd claimed an advantage, in which case Amaterasu would almost invariably show that she'd seen this coming and engage in a borderline-impossible routine that brought the battle back to even footing.

Signum had the growing, discomforting feeling that she was being toyed with.

_Wait. _She thought suddenly, her eyes widening at the sudden lack of anything but green and brown in her field of vision, not so much as a hint of anything else. Red and especially blue were not widely seen forest colors; considering how fast and maneuverable she was, her highly inappropriate color scheme was the main way Signum had kept an eye on her. _Where did she...?_

Without waiting to finish that thought, which she was distinctly aware she didn't have time for, Signum threw her flight into full reverse and shot backward. One shoulder collided solidly with a low-hanging branch, which was annoying, but not half so annoying as it would have been to be bisected by the blade that slashed through the space she'd just vacated as Amaterasu... somehow... descended on her from the leaf canopy.

Without the slightest halt in motion, the woman rotated her spear to angle the blade upwards and brought it across her body in a diagonal slash from the ground up. Signum intercepted, the two weapons once again striking up sparks as metal slid across metal, creating a sound that made nails on a chalkboard seem absolutely pleasant by comparison. Unfortunately, this also left Signum at the outer range of the spear, which was beyond what Laevatein could match in sword form. _Well, that's fine. In an environment like this, a longer weapon isn't necessarily an advantage, is it?_

Signum fell back further still, not even attempting to close the distance. Rather, she withdrew further, forcing the other woman to pursue in order to keep her in range. _Yes... that's right. Stay just outside the arc of the spear. She can't risk flame magic while she's among this underbrush, and if she lets me get too far away she knows I'll switch to Snake Form. I won't lose sight of her again, so keeping me in melee range is her best option...! _

Signum slid back across the moss of the forest floor, _s_taying just out of range... just barely...

There.

Amaterasu extended her arm and slid the spear through her palm until she was holding only the very end. It was a bizarre, unorthodox move; she was sacrificing most of the weapon's stability in order to gain just a bit of extra range for a single thrust. Still, it was so contrary to combat logic that most warriors would simply never see it coming, and Signum was in the worst possible position to dodge... feet off the ground, but no flight spell in effect, moving on sheer momentum.

Yes, if she hadn't been holding out for exactly this event Signum would have really been in a lot of trouble.

Signum didn't really seem to dodge so much as flow. The weapon slid harmlessly past her by a scant few millimeters, and the arm is passed closest to swatted at the shaft, directing the thrust so that the blade's tip stabbed deep into a nearby tree.

Triumph blazing in her eyes, Signum lunged down the length of the spear, bringing Laevatein in an arcing slash to cut the woman in two at mid-chest.

Or rather, that's what she _would _have done if Amaterasu hadn't simply released her grip on Kagutsuchi and rushed forward into Signum's own guard, clamping a hand around the other woman's sword arm and flipping Signum completely over her head. Signum landed on her feet gracefully enough, but by the time she was able to right herself and come back into a combat stance, Amaterasu had smoothly ripped her blade free and turned to face her, equally ready for battle.

Signum narrowed her eyes in something not entirely unlike irritation. "You saw _that _coming too...?"

"What did I tell you? I've done most things before. You are, hmmmm... maybe the thirty-seventh person I can think of off the top of my head who's tried the 'disarm by stuck weapon' routine. It only worked the first time, and luckily that was during my training days. Hee, I was sore for a week." She giggled. "Besides, even if it had worked your follow-through wasn't very good. You hold back too much, kitten."

"Hold back?" Signum said. "That blow would have killed you."

Amaterasu's eyes widened... and she broke into peals of genuinely amused laughter. "Oh! Oh! That's so... you are _wonderful! _You didn't even notice!"

"Notice what?"

"Every time you go for what _could _have been a killing blow, you hesitate. Not much. Tenth of a second, maybe." Amaterasu said, smiling wickedly. "But enough to be noticeable, at least to me. An impurity in your fighting style that makes you simple enough to predict you via simple observation and turn the fight back around when you manage to get an advantageous position. Of course, it helps that I am quite _intently _keeping an eye on your body anyway..."

"_How many times must I tell you to stop that?"_Signum did not _quite _growl.

_Awwww, she's just like Susa. So easy to tease, and so charmingly straight-forward that she can't even figure out that playing hard-to-get just makes it more fun to do so. _Amaterasu thought cheerfully. Out loud she said, "No need to get angry, kitten. I'm just trying to give you some helpful advice. If things keep going as they are, you're going to die, so would listening really hurt?"

"Your confidence is misplaced." Signum said by way of reply, stepping back into a combative stance.

"It really isn't." Amaterasu whispered.

Into her ear.

Signum's eyes widened, her muscles reacting far before her mind did, bringing Laevatein whipping toward the source of the voice beside her. Amaterasu smiled cheerfully, not attempting to parry or dodge, but intentionally taking the sword full on and locking their weapons.

_S_he'd been careless. _Again. _The woman hadn't even been ten meters away! Amaterasu was not as fast as Testarossa, but she was still easily the second-fastest mage Signum had ever faced; ten meters might as well have been a single step to her.

"I see it in your eyes..." Amaterasu purred, as though she were whispering to a lover in bed. "The killer. There's a monster in there, but every time she tries to surface, something gets in her way. Every killing blow has just the slightest hesitation. Something in you doesn't want to kill me."

Oh. Damn.

She was right, wasn't she? It had happened the first exchange in their match, when she'd gone for the throat. In her mind, she has apologized to Hayate before landing the would-be lethal strike. And ever before then... in her battle with Susanoo, she should have done better than she actually had. He was strong, but not her equal, she knew that.

She wasn't trying to hold back, not like she'd been during her matches with Testarossa. This was kill or be killed. But she was... did she not have it in her to fight like that anymore? She knew how much she'd changed since her new life began, but had becoming part of the Yagami family softened her _that _much?

The blue haired woman's smile shifted slightly, but noticeably... from sultry to triumphant., as if she was reading Signum's mind. "Or is it _someone _holding you back? Should I be jealous, kitten? Maybe... do you wonder if you might be better off just forgetting about them? If your devotion to them is weighing down your sword, maybe you should just abandon them entirely if you want to live..."

The reaction that resulted from this was greater, perhaps, than Amaterasu had intended.

Laevatein drew in four cartridges in rapid succession, bursting into flame so intense that nearby trees burst into flame without ever coming into contact with it. Even Signum herself felt it to be uncomfortably hot, but at the moment she really did not care. It was positively chilly in comparison to how she felt inside.

_She is holding me back? I should abandon her?  
_

_Our lives were empty. A cold, pointless hell that consisted of nothing but futilely trying to use a weapon that could never be used, for the benefit of people too repulsive to be worthy of even the short glimpse of power they received before it destroyed them. She saved us from that... took us in, gave us a home and made us a family. I owe her **everything,** and you say to abandon her? To even suggest such a thing... to assume you know ****__anything __about it..._

"How _dare _you?" Signum snarled, swinging Laevatein in a vicious slash that hurled the other woman through the clearing. "Shiden..." She said, drawing the weapon back_, _the flames only growing more intense.

Amaterasu swung her spear, clearing a lick of flame that clung to the blade like it were a drop of water. "Struck a nerve?" She asked. "Burn, Kagutsuchi."

"**Overheat." **The spear said, the entire length of the weapon taking on a red-hot glow.

Amaterasu grinned like a shark. "Come on then, kitten!"

"... _Issen._" Signum said.

Fortunately, the firestorm that resulted from their clash was simply too hot to sustain itself. It consumed all the fuel in the immediate area, reducing grass, moss, underbrush, even entire trees to nothing but charcoal, burning itself out in the space of seconds.

Amaterasu coughed up soot and stared up at the smoke rising into the sky from her new position flat on her back, eyes wide in disbelief. "Wow. I _did _hit a nerve."

Signum, already on her feet, held her blade at the ready. The embers smoldered around her and ash swirled in the air around the flames that limned her sword, but the fire around her paled in comparison to the flames behind her eyes. "On your feet. _I'm not done with you yet_."

There was a certain satisfaction to it, actually. She wasn't soft... she just had better priorities now. Yes, that felt good.

As she watched, Amaterasu smiled and tenderly rose to her feet, looked into the blazing eyes of her would-be executioner without fear... and did the one thing that could have possibly squashed Signum's driving fury. She sighed in satisfaction, licked her lips, visibly blushed, and said, "Mag-ni-fi-cent. I am _so _turned on right now."

One little-used way to get rid of fury? Replace it with confused revulsion.

"... what?" Signum asked, her skin crawling too much to quite get any other thought across.

"I was sort of hoping you'd react like that... Susa could get excited over a duel with a killing machine, but I find them extremely tedious. I much prefer people. Delicious, flawed, passionate _people._" Amaterasu said reverently. "So when I started to notice that your personality is a bit fragmented, I decided to see what would happen if I pressed your buttons. Would your boring side come out and make this oh-so-annoyingly serious, forcing me to put you down? Or would I bring out the humanity, melt that icy exterior and make you become..." Another sigh, a deeper blush, "... even _more _interesting? Suffice to say, kitten, you did _not _disappoint. Such passion, such _fire_... literal _and _figurative, I have a thing for both. You're simply radiant! I've not been so excited in _years_. I legitimately cannot decide whether it would ultimately be more satisfying to feed the flames more and see what else you have to show me, or extinguish them just so I can be the last person who ever sees you so _alive__._ Ah... I really think I'm starting to fall in love..."

"Are... are you insane?" Signum asked. She couldn't really think of anything else to say. Was this... was she _serious_? Was this still all some elaborate attempt to make her lower her guard, or was this psychopath literally confessing to being _aroused_ by a duel to the death?

"Maybe a little bit." Amaterasu admitted. "Now then, let us dance!"

* * *

Fate turned away from Bardiche. "It's hard to be sure... Bardiche really isn't made for this sort of thing, and I'm already giving a lot of my mana to Arf. But... yes, from what I can tell, every member of the away team has been engaged."

Lindy smiled slightly. "Here we thought the opposition was stalling for time, but they're actually going for a divide and conquer. And with considerably more resources than we expected. ."

Fate blinked in confusion. "Admiral, if you don't mind my saying... you're taking this awfully well. You seem a little _too _calm, considering the situation."

"Oh, I have my reasons." Lindy said amicably. "First of all, I think that _somebody _should stay calm. You know, as a countermeasure to Amy."

From the central reactor room, halfway across the ship, Amy could be heard screaming in ultimate frustration. The lights, it must be noted, did not get even a _little _brighter_, _remaining just barely lit from the emergency backups.

"I can understand that." Fate said diplomatically.

"Second, you children," Lindy said, "Can take care of yourselves better than anyone I've ever met. You, Nanoha, Yuuno... and of course Chrono, though don't mention it to him when he's around, he'll get a big head... you're the light of the future. I have absolute faith in you."

Fate found herself blushing slightly in spite of herself. "Oh, um... th-thank you. I'm... I'm glad you feel that way..."

"And the third reason I'm so calm..." Lindy said with a small smile, "Well, that's a secret."

Fate's eyes narrowed. "Mother... you don't still have something planned, do you?"

"Not at all."

"Because I stood up for you when Chrono got angry that you've been keeping us in the dark. I'll feel bad if it turns out that he's right." Fate said.

Lindy patted Fate affectionately on the shoulder. "Don't worry, dear. I would _never _keep my children in the dark."

The emergency lighting went pitch black, leaving Fate in the dark for several seconds before a soft humming filled the ship and it returned to its original dim glow.

"... that wasn't me." Lindy said.

_Shamal? _Hayate thought, watching the mother and daughter from across the room. _Do you ever get the feeling that all of our friends and co-workers are a bit... odd?_

_That's all right. You're a bit of an odd girl yourself, so you fit right in. _Shamal thought cheerfully.

_... ... there was a time when you didn't know how to tease me. _Hayate thought, her wistful tone suggesting she was starting to miss those days.

_Just one more way you've improved us, mistress. _

* * *

_Oh, dear. _Tsukuyomi thought. Her search program, unhindered by any other concerns or the need to defend herself, found the target more quickly than she'd been expecting. She liked the sound it made when it found something she was looking for; a soft bell-like 'ping' in her head. It was a very pleasant sound... ping, ping, ping. But this time, the ping didn't sound as good. The ping had betrayed her.

Just to be safe, she had Suijin tap the planetary ethernet, download an atlas so she could compare maps. It didn't take more than a few seconds to confirm her fears, unfortunately.

_Everyone, we have a small problem. _She thought mildly to her brother and sister. _The Gate has been located. _

_That really doesn't sound like a problem. _Susanoo replied in a confused tone of thought.

_It appears to be in the northwest quadrant of the search zone._

_Oh, even better! I'm coming up on that area fast right now! Granted, I've got a pissed-off little red thing trying to hurt me while I'm doing that, but still. _Susanoo thought cheerfully. _This still sounds like good news to me!_

_Susa. Pay attention. Look around you, what do you see? _

_I... um... oh. Oh, crap. The sun was behind it, I thought it was a mountain formation, but those are..._

_Buildings. You are, if you've judged your location correctly and my link to the planetary datanet is accurate, approaching the city of Ravenna. The continental capital. Population eight point five million._

_... Damn. Where is Amaterasu? She's still conscious and active, but either she can't hear our communications or she just isn't listening.  
_

_What was her opponent like again? _Tsukuyomi asked, dread filling her. She showed this dread by blinking slightly more slowly than normal_._

_Er... tall, good-looking, her armor shows her legs off, Ammy was calling her 'kitten', and just judging by my own tussle with her she's good enough to make Ammy get really serious. __  
_

The two fell silent for several seconds.

_Big sister is ignoring us. _They then thought in perfect unison.

_Ugh, that freakin' hypocrite! If I act like that she gets angry, but when **she **decides to goof off she just expects us to carry on without her! _Susanoo thought. _Okay, I guess we're in command now, and what a wonderful time to have ****__that __happen._ _This is going to be brutal, Tsuku. Time barriers will help to a degree, but in a world with this much native magic... I'm not sure we'll be able to completely avoid putting civilians in the line of fire. Even if we weren't supposed to minimize civilian casualties, we're not at war with this world. If we were running a siege or an occupation campaign, that would be one thing, but these people are just in the wrong place at the wrong time._

_Even worse, we can expect much stiffer resistance. The Bureau will do everything in their power to keep us out of that city, and they can be annoyingly creative. _Tsukuyomi agreed. _For now, put the barrier up if you can reach city limits past your opponent. No containment, just temporal/spatial displacement. Even people who aren't affected by it will be able to tell something is wrong and evacuate the area. As for you, hold your position to the edge of the city for now. I'll be by your side shortly, and we can decide what to do next. _

_Understood. I can hold until you get here. _Susanoo said, his thoughts sounding relieved. Tsukuyomi might be harsh towards combatants, but he knew he could trust her on this. Pointless civilian casualties didn't sit well with her, either. _  
_

_This is going to be unpleasant. _Tsukuyomi thought, only to herself this time. _There are ways to minimize it, but I doubt we can totally avoid collateral damage_. _Why couldn't this have been like Earth, where the people could be easily phased out?__ Instead we'll have who-knows-how-many people in the line of fire. At least that girl isn't here... she's the sort who would blame herself if people got hurt nearby her, even if it wasn't her fault. _

She wasn't sure why her thoughts had drifted in that direction. Nor was she exactly sure why she felt bad about the thought that Nanoha Takamachi might feel bad; it wasn't as though the bizarre little girl's emotional state was her responsibility. She wasn't family. She wasn't Tsukuyomi's master. She wasn't even an ally... no, worse, she was an _enemy. _Logically speaking, Tsukuyomi had no reason at all to be the slightest bit concerned about Nanoha Takamachi's mental well-being... and yet she found, oddly, that she was concerned.

Was it just because she was... well, nice? Tsukuyomi knew that most people found her somewhat off-putting. She wasn't quite sure why, and when she'd asked big brother and big sister their respective responses had been, "Really? Huh. Well, screw them. _I _love you, and I probably count for like, fifty normal people!" and "Oh, you're just going after the wrong crowd. There's a real market for a legal-aged girl with your body type, so you could have a really huge fanbase if you play your cards right!"

That had, coincidentally, also been the time she'd realized that big sister should never be asked for advice related to her personal life.

Still, whatever the reason, it was something she couldn't change about herself and still be... herself. So she'd just learned to accept that she was never going to be a social butterfly. It had been hard at first... big brother and big sister were very social indeed, and it stung a bit to see them so easily accomplishing what she just couldn't seem to figure out. But that sting was more than salved by how thoroughly clear they made it that their connection to _her _was the most important thing to them, and they would rather be by her side than anywhere else. Granted, big brother often showed this by being unecessarily loud and overprotective and dragging her around like a rag doll, and big sister had often expressed an interest in being much closer than Tsukuyomi preferred (The forced lap-sitting was already discomforting enough, but Tsukuyomi drew the line at her idea they should start bathing together. She could admit the practical benefits of having someone there to wash her back, but she could also comprehend that Amaterasu was not motivated by practicality so much as voyeurism). But still, it made her happy. They might have cared in odd ways, but they certainly cared a _lot. _

And of course, during her career she'd had an entire royal family to look after, most of whom she met on the day they were born and bid them good-bye on the day they died. Realistically speaking, she had more personal connections than most simply by virtue of who she was and what her job was. It was only people who didn't know her that were a problem, and it wasn't hard to just ignore the confused and occasionally frightened looks she got upon interacting with them and just move on with her life.

Nanoha Takamachi had given her those same looks, and Tsukuyomi had not been surprised. She had, however, been _very _surprised when the girl had then continued to attempt to connect with her regardless of the fact that their personalities were frankly not very compatible. But why? It made no sense. Why would anyone genuinely go to that much effort, even occasionally putting her own life in danger, for someone she didn't even know and logically speaking had no reason to even like? What kind of person would do that for a stranger, an _enemy_? She'd thought at first that it was some plan to subvert her loyalties, make her lower her guard, but she no longer believed the girl was that devious. Yet if Nanoha Takamachi's actions were motivated solely by 'kindness', then it was a bizarre, self-sacrificial kindness that bordered on madness, and Tsukuyomi didn't believe the girl to be insane any more than she believed her to be some sort of evil genius. She. Just. Made. No. _Sense. _

_Stop it. You're behaving like a child. _She rebuked herself. Susa was on the front lines and Amaterasu was being an idiot, and here she was in reverie! _I once accused Nanoha of being so open in an attempt to make me lower my guard. If she was genuinely trying to do that, it came close to success for a moment there. I'll need to be more cautious in the future._

She shook her head as if to clear out the annoying thoughts, and took to the skies. She had a job to do, and the objective had been confirmed.

And she didn't even notice that at the end, just for a moment, she'd started to think of Nanoha Takamachi by only her first name.

_

* * *

_**Author's Note: Before anyone brings it up: Yeah, Chrono's not in this chapter. I didn't forget about him, it's just... this is way, way too long already. **

**Don't worry. The whole Harlaown family is getting their screentime soon enough...  
**


	24. Building Up and Breaking Down

**Author's Notes: ****The people who noticed what Amaterasu is like when she gets a little **_**too **_**into a fight: Yes, I am a **_**Negima **_**fan, and yes it was deliberate; She's not exactly _based _on _Negima's _swordswoman villain Tsukuyomi, but she does have some quite intentional similarities. Granted, she's**** not quite _that _insane. Negima!Tsukuyomi is a full-on serial killer who gets off on combat and murder. Ammy, on the other hand, only acts like... this... when fighting people who have otherwise managed to catch her interest in some way already. She's having far, _far_ too much fun, but she'd also be just as happy to drool over Signum and try to provoke _interesting _new reactions from her in a more peaceful situation... the only difference is that in a non-combat scenario she replaces the attempted murder with shameless groping and other assorted violations of personal space. Just ask her brother and sister. She finds them veeeeeery interesting, and they'd be happy to tell you all about it with a dull, haunted, dead sort of look in their eyes.**

**Honestly, Signum is probably happier with the threat of death. She gets enough groping at home.**

**Chapter 23: Building Up and Breaking Down  
**

Enlil nodded. "All right, they've found the Gate. It seems that everyone is engaged, mass chaos, absolutely nothing is going according to plan but we're managing to vaguely approach the objective regardless. Precia, it's your turn."

Precia Testarossa looked up from her status monitors. "I've already started the preliminary programs. The controlled Gates have shut down all unnecessary functions and begun devoting all memory to absorbing and retaining ambient energy. All we have to do is send the signal to activate the embedded program installed in the Drive units, and we can begin the main ritual at a moment's notice."

"There won't be any problems integrating the fourth Gate into the network? Any instabilities?"

Precia shrugged. "Assuming your..." _Hmmm, 'idiots' might be the wrong word to use in front of her, "_...subordinates succeed in activating it?"

"Assuming."

"It's possibly that we might be able to streamline the process to a degree if we spent a few hours writing it into the main equations, but frankly the change to our odds of success would likely not even be a full percentage point. I've really only done as much preparation as I've already done because we had the time to spare; in a process as fundamentally unstable as the one we're attempting, there's really only so much that can be done to remove instabilities. A fifth Gate to shoulder the burden would make a difference, ten hours moving numbers around in the spell programs probably would not. It's probably not worth the time, so we might as well just start the spell as soon as the Gate is active."

"All right." Enlil said. "In that case, I'll start integrating myself into the network. We can be ready to cast at a moment's notice if the situation requires it. For your part, I have a small task that needs accomplished and only you to do it. We have the 'target site' picked out, but this is the dimensional sea we're dealing with. You could make a legitimate argument that the target site doesn't actually exist. Therefore, I'd like some beacons to be set up on worlds around the 'edges' of the intended target zone, to cordon it off and help us more accurately choose the affected area. Anything caught in the reaction area will be wiped from existence, and I'd prefer not to destroy any useful worlds."

Precia arced one eyebrow. "I was under the impression you wanted me here in case something went wrong."

"We don't always get what we want." Enlil said primly. "I also wanted to avoid another massive, wasteful conflict and get the fourth Gate active quickly, at which point my guardians could place these beacons themselves in a matter of minutes. I didn't get _that_. I'm learning to adjust to disappointment."

"... fair enough." Precia said. "Give me five minutes to prepare the beacons, and then open the portal."

"You... are being unusually helpful." Enlil said, a combination of suspicion and curiosity in her voice.

"This is _it. _This is the end. If this fails, it was all a waste. So whatever my opinions of you... it is in my own best interests to ensure that this last phase goes perfectly." Precia replied fervently, a spark of that familiar zealousness in her eyes. She then said, in a slightly quieter, almost embarrassed voice that would have been sort of cute from anyone but her, "And, as a scientist, I must admit that the closer we get to the actual event, the more curious I become to see if it can actually be done. The theory is sound, but that's a far cry from a successful application."

"Ah. You see? I knew that you could be reasonable, given the proper motivation." Enlil said in a satisfied tone.

_Once Alicia is safe, once I am holding her in my arms again, I am going to make absolutely sure she is secured somewhere that no one can harm her... and then, as I watch her grow up strong and healthy, I am also going to be **planning. **I am going to account for every variable, prepare for every possible contingency, so that the moment when you think you are safe is also the moment when I will finally be ready to make you **suffer** for the indignities you have heaped upon me and my family. And when that moment comes, all the power in the universe won't save you from the Hell I inflict upon you. Nothing will be able to protect you from me. You will ****__pay._ Precia thought.

"I suppose that's true." Precia said.

* * *

Chrono Harlaown fell back.

If the cybernetic creatures had been more familiar with him, or capable of anything like creative reasoning, that would have been their first clue that they were in trouble.

As he flew, tiny sparks of blue light were released from Durandal to trail along his flight path. They faded from view in seconds, but seemed to accomplish nothing much beyond looking slightly pretty, and the Black Cats were apparently not big on aesthetics since they didn't seem to notice this. Which was too bad, since that was the _second _clue that they were in trouble.

The long range unit was strafing along his path with some kind of small caliber firearm. That 'small caliber' had been a godsend, because he'd taken a few bullets already, and the shells were not powerful enough to pierce his barrier jacket and auto-defenses. So while they stung like Hell, and sustained fire was definitely out, as long as none hit a weak spot in his armor he could be fairly certain they wouldn't kill him. A simple shield would probably have stopped them completely, but Chrono had the impression that was exactly what they were trying to accomplish; spraying rapid fire in an effort to make him stop moving and fight defensively, then get skinned alive. Better for now to rely on maneuverability for defense and just stay out of the close combatant's range.

At least until he was finished releasing tiny, meaningless little sparks.

Speaking of which, he'd put enough space since the last one. He broke into a loop to throw the attackers for a second, and with an effort of will cast the spell once again. A small blue spark emerged from Durandal before fading into the air. _Yes, that should be enough, now I just have to line them up. _

Chrono broke into a straight shot, abandoning evasion in favor of speed. This made him a perfect target, unfortunately, and he could see the twin attackers lining up to take their shots at him, but he wasn't really concerned. Right now, anybody in his flight path was in far more danger than he was.

He snapped his fingers, activating the series of delayed spells he'd painstakingly laid across the battlefield. _  
_

Each and every tiny, meaningless little blue spark that had 'disappeared' exploded into a starburst pattern of cold, blue light that made the ambient temperature even outside the blast zone sharply plummet, with the two cyborgs right in the middle of the storm. This was not a freezing magic for containment, like Eternal Coffin, but a magic specialized for destruction of artificial targets. Not ice, exactly, just a burst of unspeakably intense cold. The sort of cold that made joints lock, and lubricants freeze, and which most of all made metal very, very brittle.

A basic attack spell dealt with the problem fairly handily at that point.

Chrono looked upon the two shattered monsters, and shook his head. "Really. That's the problem with drones... the basic combat potential was good, but they just have no creativity. Even that idiot with the axe was harder to predict than these things."

_Hello, Fate? I've managed to clear out the situation on my end and I'm ready to move on to the main battle site. Do we have teleport control back?_

_Not... exactly. _Fate said delicately. _Amy and the engineering crew seem to have gotten the reactor re-initialized, but it was stopped cold for some time. It's going to take awhile for full power to be restored even though its running again, and even once that happens she says we'll have to manage most systems in short bursts to prevent it from being compromised._

_... she's really angry, isn't she?_

_She's said some curse words I didn't even know about_. Fate confirmed.

_Well, I guess that shouldn't surprise me. Just send me the coordinates, I'll go ahead on my own power. I should be able to manage a personal transport without too much stamina loss, and I'm not doing any good to anybody over here._

As he prepared the teleport, the spell circle lighting up the sky around him, Chrono considered. Where should he land, exactly? Near the others, yes, but teleporting into a running fight was both difficult and stupid, so not too close. Were there any particularly good starting points in the vicinity that Fate had outlined for him, any...

Ah. Ah-ha.

Something was resisting him in the area Fate had outlined, but not very strongly. Someone had set up a time barrier.

Oh, _Hell. _Weren't those coordinates a major city? And an encounter was already going on that close to..._  
_

Chrono sped up his casting. _  
_

* * *

Tsukuyomi could just barely see the spires of Ravenna, and had a clear view of her brother's barrier, when she encountered yet _another _distraction.

"You... I remember you. You're the one who snared Susa the last time we encountered each other..." She said softly, halting her flight to face the boy in the black barrier jacket who materialized in the air in front of her. "You weren't with the team that arrived here. How did you find..."

"The barrier. I chose to start my search near the most obvious hotspot," Chrono said, "Apparently with good reason."

"Ah. Young man, I have little time, and you already know the details of my situation as far as I can reveal them. Move from my path or I will remove you by force."

"You're not the only one on a clock." Chrono said. "And I'm not the only one who should understand her situation. I'm sure you've heard this before, but: _You are under arrest. _If you come along quietly, it will be taken into consideration at your trial."

_Big brother? _Tsukuyomi thought. _I've been intercepted, so start moving in as much as you can. The Gate should be somewhere on the northeastern side of the city... look for any large transmitters or dimensional transport apparatus, they would likely be placed near the same leylines the Gates are. And... Susa, I would never ask you to target civilians intentionally, but do keep in mind that they are a **secondary **__concern. Your first priority is to come back to me alive and victorious, big brother. _

_I... yeah. I gave my word to Ammy, too. I won't be aiming my fire at any orphanages or anything horrible like that, but... I can't promise that I'll be going all out unless I've no other choice. Even with the barriers up, I can already see people running to get off the streets, and I'm sure at least some of these buildings must be full. But I won't let this girl defeat me. I promise you that much. _Susanoo promised through their telepathic link.

_Stay safe. _Tsukuyomi replied, recognizing that this was the closest she'd be getting to a real guarantee. With that out of the way, she narrowed her eyes and considered her combat options. _This boy's overall magical rating isn't too high, but I shouldn't underestimate him. Most of his powers are nothing special, but he has at least one spell that I must beware of... that freezing spell he used on Susa means instant defeat it if connects. I must not give him the opportunity to use it... _

Tsukuyomi held up one glowing palm. "Current, gather. Draw my foe beneath the waves..."

**"Cascade Break." **Her staff said. Moisture from the air, even the clouds in the sky, passed from gas to liquid and gathered in a ball of liquid above her raised hand before hurtling at Chrono in a stream that could have crushed plate steel like tinfoil.

Chrono raised Durandal into the path of the incoming wave, the staff releasing a wave of blue light that met the liquid missile head-on and caused it to screech to a mid-air halt, before falling to the ground below and shattering like the ice it now was.

"Sorry." Chrono said, not even bothering to shoot a glance at the impromptu ice sculpture. "But I'm afraid your water-based magic won't be of much use against me."

Tsukuyomi tilted her head to one side. "Oh?"

It was about this point that Chrono realized something was wrong.

And then the jagged mass of crystals beneath Chrono shattered even more violently than they had from the fall_, _becoming a storm of razors that shot upwards at Chrono at just barely subsonic speeds. He got a shield up... barely... but he still felt a contradictory mix of chill and warmth as one piece slipped by and grazed his cheek. Similar strikes occurred elsewhere in his body, but did only cosmetic damage to his barrier jacket.

"I am the goddess of the ocean." Tsukuyomi informed him calmly. "Water is mine to command. If I can control it as gas to gather it and liquid to attack with it, why would making it solid have any effect worth mentioning? If anyone should be saying, 'your magic won't be much use', it should be me. An affinity for ice just means that the blade I cut you down with will be colder."

_Ha..._ Chrono chuckled bitterly inside his own head. _Not exactly an auspicious start to the battle. Still, first things first. Judging by her path when I encountered her, she was headed directly for..._

_Everyone? _He thought, switching over to telepathy. _I've intercepted one of the targets, and judging by her route, we may have a situation._ _It's beginning to look like their target is in the general vicinity of, or possibly even underneath, a major city to the north-northwest of my current position. I think it goes without saying that we cannot let them reach that location, no matter the cost._

_Understood. _Signum replied tersely, before breaking the link without another word.

_Understood. _Zafira replied tersely. He didn't break the link afterward, he just didn't have anything else to say.

_That... might be a problem. _Vita thought.

... ... ... ... _why?_ Chrono asked, although deep down he didn't really want to know.

_Well, you see, me and Blue over here..._

'_Blue'_?

_Hey, if this jerk can give me an annoying nickname I can give him one back! _

... _**What **are you talking about?_

_Nothing important! Look, my point is that we've been moving around a lot. Sort of a running fight, we had to leave a site because we almost killed some teena... mice. Almost killed some mice.  
_

_... ... ...  
_

_And the thing is, well... we sorta hit city limits three minutes ago. I tried to stop him, but he's pretty hard to pin down. _Vita thought.

_Ah. Of course. Just what I wanted to hear. _Chrono thought dryly. _Tell me you've taken steps to limit exposure?_

_Of course! I raised the barrier as soon as we hit civilian areas; and actually this guy helped me out, too. No containment function, just time-displacement. Anyone caught in it will either be safe or at least warned to head for the hills. _

_I suppose that's the best we can hope for... and Miss Vita?_

_Yeah?_

_I have my own problems to deal with, and I know you don't actually recognize any authority I have over you, so I'll just ask quickly: There are people in some of those buildings, so please don't destroy one every time you swing your hammer?_

_Geez, kid, you have __**no **__faith in me. _Vita thought indignantly._  
_

* * *

Vita swung her hammer, and destroyed a building.

All right, not quite. The building had been under construction, which was why she'd tried to steer the battle toward it once it became clear that the only way she'd be getting the blue-haired boy outside the city was to use some powers that she couldn't safely use _inside _the city. It was fortunate that the Barriers cleared out a solid portion of the populace, but they couldn't automatically remove anyone with the tiniest _hint _of magical aura, and that unfortunately left enough people to have a good-sized panic. Local authorities were doing a decent job at crowd control and shunting the people to shelters, but even from her current vantage point Vita could see more than one totaled vehicle from drivers trying to avoid fleeing pedestrians. And there were still more of those to avoid. It would be at least a few minutes before the streets around her would be clear enough to cut loose, so she needed to move the fight somewhere she _could _cut loose. With any luck, a building under construction wouldn't have many folks in or around it, and once she got him inside she could really wail on the jerk.

So she'd gotten him inside by hitting him really hard into the side of the thing. And that hadn't destroyed the building, _per se_, though it had, sort of... shattered all of the windows and maybe possibly demolished a floor or two. The building hadn't really been what she'd call _destroyed _until he'd launched his counterattack at her from _inside _the structure, and the resulting explosion left the upper superstructure hanging off at a very weird angle. Oh, and showered Vita with shrapnel.

_Damn... _She thought, metal, glass and concrete shards bouncing off her shields. She cast her eyes downwards, scanning the streets, a few big chunks had been knocked loose and...

_Damn! _A section of girder much too large for her liking had good odds of landing either right in front of or right on top of a personal vehicle that was apparently choosing to take the back roads through the construction zones. It made a certain sort of sense, most major roadways were probably a mess right now, but they'd messed up and were far too close to the actual threat. And now Vita had a problem.

She dove, ignoring the smaller rocks and glass; they weren't falling that far, the metal roof of the car should be able to take them. She wasn't _certain _of that, but she _was _certain that it couldn't take half an I-beam slamming into it, so she had to hedge her bets and nail down the certain problem. And _nail _was the appropriate term, since her only real option for stopping the beam in question was to, well... take the hammer to it. And the safest place to smash it to was right back into the building, so now the upper floors were a wreck, and at least one of the lower floors had also seen better days. Still, better an empty building than a full car.

...Oh, God, she wouldn't have to _pay _for this stuff, would she? They couldn't charge her for property damage, right? Or like, add time onto her sentence?

_Calm down, Vita. Get inside, beat the crap out of that guy, and make ****__him __pay for it. Yeah. That's right. _She thought. She took off then; not up, but _around _the building at ground level. Once she'd made a full loop around the structure, then she started to climb, keeping the building between herself and where she assumed him to be. He had just collapsed most of the top floors, so she assumed that he would still be in there; he might be buried, or he might be planning an ambush. Either way, with what she had planned, it wouldn't really matter.

She flew straight up, above the building entirely. And up. And up.

Then she raised her hammer high above her head and came straight _down, _letting Eisen lead the way and letting gravity add to the force of the blow. The impact sent made cars in the streets below literally _bounce_ from just the shock-wave, and more importantly caused the already-wavering top floors of the construction zone to finally finish collapsing, her assault giving them exactly the push they needed to fall... straight down into the structure and _onto _the guy inside.

Vita stepped back, scanning the rubble. Unfortunately, now _she _was the one who couldn't see what was going on. _I'm sure he was in here... if the attack connected, he should be out cold, but I'll still have to find him..._

A hand burst up through the debris from the floor below and clamped around Vita's ankle.

Vita looked down at this. _... unless the floor he was on collapsed and let him escape below the rest of the debris, so he's right under me._

"Don't you _dare_." She said to the hand, recognizing that she was probably in for something unpleasant.

Susanoo smiled, and in a smooth motion, pulled Vita down through the ceiling above him and whipped her through the floor beneath him.

Vita, lying on her back in a pile of debris, looked up through the hole she'd left and growled in annoyance. Plaster dust poofed off of her hair.

"Hey, you started it." Susanoo said.

Vita narrowed her eyes. "Well then, I guess it's only fair I finish it too. I was thinking about doing that by making you eat your own axe. Let's get working on that."

* * *

The long-range attacker opened up it's chest to reveal a cannon larger in diameter than Zafira's head, the barrel of which took on a violent red glow. The enormous bolt that fired from it after a brief charge was actually a feint, irritatingly enough... Yuuno raised a defense, only to have the beam split into six smaller shots that looped around it and required him to hastily construct a spherical defense rather than a flat wall, and as a result the impact was a little too hot for comfort. Still, once the smoke cleared, he and Zafira were still airborne, if slightly singed, so one point for Team Fuzzy.

Yuuno sighed. _This is beginning to get tedious._

Zafira, his coat matted from a few close calls but otherwise largely okay, spat shards of metal and plastic from his mouth. _At least you didn't have to bite one. They taste even worse than they look. _

_I'm sorry it got so close. I'm not used to moving around as quickly as you do, and it's hard to compensate my spell positioning. Add those barrier-piercing blades to that and my defense isn't as spot-on as I'm used to.  
_

_I'm not dead nor severely wounded. Thus, you are performing adequately. _The wolf replied.

_Yes, but we're also getting nowhere fast. Chrono bought us some time, but we have to assume the worst will happen and get back to the main mission as soon as possible. _Yuuno stated firmly.

_Suggestions on how to accomplish this?_

_... hey, you're the knight, remember? I'm a librarian. _Yuuno said defensively.

Zafira did not chuckle. It would have ruined his image. _Very well. I do have one thought, though it will be a risk. Leave me._

_Excuse me?_

_We separate, and you focus all of your energy into binding one of them, preferably the one configured for close combat. _

_They have some bind-breaking or nullifying abilities, or at least the last ones I faced did. _Yuuno warned. _A binding will be hard to hold for long and probably won't keep it from moving enough to prevent it from defending itself unless I catch it off-guard somehow.  
_

_That is fine. The actual purpose of this is to make the long-distance shooter target you in order to free the other. Then, when its focus is on you..._

_You rush it?_

_Correct. _

_There's a lot of ways that could go wrong._

_Also correct. _Zafira agreed. _Risk is a part of any battle. If this works we'll have achieved a decisive advantage. _

_Well... you're the knight. _Yuuno said. The ferret released it's grip on the wolf's fur, becoming a young man in flash of light as the transformation magic canceled. One hand stretched toward his target, and he snapped, "Chain Bind!"

It must be stressed that it as not Yuuno's fault that things ended up going so wrong. Nor was it Zafira's. It was just that sometimes a plan doesn't go according to plan. Most of the time, actually. And therefore, you couldn't really blame him for this one going a little off.

The chain snapped out from the green circle that appeared in the air around Yuuno, snaring the cyborg he targeted. This was perfectly according to plan, magnificently so. The creature was actually able to cut one of the lines, which was not good, but Yuuno was able to compensate by strengthening the other chains and keep the thing, if not perfectly contained, then at least restricted. So it was unable to utilize those nasty blades at anything that didn't come right up to it.

And _that _was when things went wrong.

As planned, the distance-attacker redirected it's weaponry in Yuuno's direction. The young man raised his shields, completely confident in his ability to repel anything it had to offer. Zafira looped around the battlefield, trailing silver light like a comet as he came in at the creatures unprotected flank at his top speed. The impact would occur in seconds, and the creature was locked into a firing pattern. If it tried to turn rapidly, the recoil would throw off its aim anyway, so there wasn't much chance of it hitting Zafira solidly enough to halt his charge. And the Guardian Beast was moving so quickly and was so infused with magic, nothing short of a direct hit from one of the thing's higher-powered weapons would be enough to halt him. He'd strike, and crush the disgusting thing with a single blow, tear its head off with a single bite...

Yuuno and Zafira as a team, it must be noted, had a fundamental flaw: they were too similar. Even with Zafira focusing entirely on offense, the majority of his offense was bindings and restrictive barriers. This meant, basically, that while their defense was basically impenetrable, their offense was better suited for hindering the enemy rather than actually destroying unless Zafira could get into range to use his close-quarters attacks. This meant that while the enemy had never truly pressed them, they had not pressed the enemy much either.

In such circumstances, it was easy to forget that while the two Black Cats might have fought separately, it was really smarter to think of them as one organism. When one saw a threat that it didn't have a good targeting angle on... the other one saw that threat too.

The cyborg that Yuuno had snared rotated, withdrew its blades, and released a bolt of sickly red light from a shoulder-mounted weapon that emerged from its armor, all in a single smooth motion. It was not attempting to shoot Zafira, because it could no more acquire a target solution in time than its partner; what it _could _do, however, was fire _ahead _of the charging Beast and strafe along his path to force him to pull back or risk running into a coherent beam of death.

And the other cyborg, the one that Zafira had been attacking, extended a glowing red blade from its wrist and lunged.

_No! _Yuuno thought. Their divide-and-conquer tactic had been turned against them completely. Zafira had been forced into evasive maneuvers right out of a high-speed charge; he might not be able to right himself in time to defend properly after breaking out of an attack like that. Yuuno tried to extend his binding, snare the other attacker before it could reach his teammate.

**Defensive Skill: Magic Cancel.** That familiar, strangely sourceless electronic voice said, the first time that any of the cyborgs had invoked one of the magic-like systems the other models had shown. The chains wrapped around the cyborg that Yuuno had already snared grew dim as its built-in defenses stole the energy from them; they held, but the newly formed and unstable ones branching off from them did not, fading away into nothing before ever reaching their target.

The cyborg, however, reached its target quite handily.

* * *

"Status, ladies?" Mizetto asked calmly.

Amy wiped some sweat from her brow and smiled in fierce satisfaction. "I think we're in business, Admiral."

Talia wiped some sweat from _her _brow and scowled at Amy. "To a degree."

Amy winced. "Okay, yes. To a degree. We can still only be perfectly certain of one or two systems at a time, which means that we really need to keep our efforts on maintaining primary power and life support. Secondary systems, like sensors and transportation..."

"Must, by necessity, be used sparingly." Mizetto finished for her. "Understood. Just do what you can."

"Well, for now, let's see what we can do about sensors." Amy said. "Maybe if we activate and deactivate them in rapid pulses, we can get... at least brief images of what's going on out there. I don't like us in the dark like this."

"A reasonable starting point." Mizetto agreed. "Please inform the young miss Harlaown to continue her efforts to maintain a communications network with the away team, as well. If we're going to resolve this situation, accurate data is a must."

Amy giggled slightly. "No need for _that _order. Give that girl a job and she'll stop working when it's finished or she passes out from exhaustion, whichever comes first."

Admiral Mizetto smiled slightly. "A trait shared by many in the new generation, from what I've seen. I remember that youthful fire, though I wonder if I was ever personally quite so... well..."

"Insane?" Talia supplied.

"I was going to say 'spirited' but, well... you've seen their files." the Admiral agreed.

"Well, let's go give them the support they need to be insane in the right place at the right time!" Amy said enthusiastically. "I'm going to go see what I can do about getting one or two more systems online. If we had a little more computing power to throw around, but we don't exactly have another nine days to piece together something usable, and even the mage devices we can trust couldn't manage the load of the ship's computers enough to be much help, so..."

"Excuse me?" Hayate asked, wheeling herself into the room.

"Miss Yagami? I thought you were in medical." Admiral Mizetto said kindly.

"Oh, I'm not actually wounded... well, any more than usual at least. I just have overprotective guardians." Hayate said in a slightly embarrassed tone. "But Fate is in the same situation I am and found a way to help out anyway, so I thought I would come up to the bridge and see if there was anything I could do. And, well... you say you need more computer capacity? I know a normal mage's device can't manage that sort of load, but what about the little one here?"

Hayate held up her sealed device, and from it projected the holographic image of a tiny white-haired girl with shining blue eyes and a brilliant smile. "Rein is a Belkan unison device... fully autonomous, capable of merging with and regulating all the data in a human brain. She's still reformatting and regenerating herself, so she can't maintain a body of her own yet, but her capacity for data storage and manipulation is already much higher than an Intelligent Device. Is there anything she could do to help?"

"Oh! Oh! I bet there _is!_" Rein said cheerfully.

Amy smiled slowly. "I bet, too."

"I was _right!_ That makes me the winner!" Rein cheered.

* * *

Precia Testarossa dropped the small, cylindrical metal object. Upon touching the ground of some insignificant world she hadn't even bothered to remember the name of, it sprouted several small legs to steady itself, then began boring into the crust. Once it had penetrated several meters straight down, it stopped and began to pulse, emitting a location signal to cordon off their selected target zone.

The entire process lasted about thirty seconds and took absolutely no effort or even really thought on Precia's part. A trained monkey could have managed this duty (were that monkey, like Precia, possessed of sufficient magical power and skill to manage multiple personal dimensional transports in succession while still possessing enough energy to function. So in reality, it would have taken a truly exceptional monkey to actually manage this task without a sizable support network).

"Finally, a chance to use my degrees." She said dryly, observing the aftermath of her highly specialized and difficult task of dropping a small thing onto some dirt. She then began preparing her next dimensional transfer... she had five more of these to set, and the sooner she got done with this tedious busywork, the better.

* * *

The bolt of pink light, compressed for additional piercing power, ripped through the cybernetic creature's barrier and armor in a single smooth instant. Shards of metal and plastic shattered off from the main body, falling to splash into the ocean below. The creature's left arm hung limply at it's side, crushed motors and torn wires sparking uselessly.

Nanoha sighed and slightly lowered her staff. Compressing the energy to give it enough stopping power to get through their defense hadn't been easy, but the gamble had paid off. "Chrono said that you two aren't alive, and you can't really make your own choices. I'm holding back because that's the kind of thing I have to be absolutely certain about.

"You two might have had a chance against me before, but this battle is clearly going in my favor. You're too damaged to fight at full effectiveness, and if you can't do that, even two against one won't let you defeat me. If you have any sort of mind or free will in there at all... I'd suggest you run."

The newly damaged cyborg seemed to almost briefly consider this. Then it reached up with its other hand and ripped the useless limb completely off to discard the excess weight. Unlike the earlier lost debris, this severed limb contained sensitive circuitry and was recalled by central control, vanishing in a burst of static. This done, the cyborg readied it's remaining blades, staying stubbornly in place between Nanoha and the other unit, which remained at range.

Nanoha shuddered. Not just at the way that the creature had sacrificed a limb in the same totally unaffected manner that a person might have displayed when cutting short a skirt that was too long, but because blood was dripping from among the sparking machinery... she doubted she'd ever get used to that. Or that she'd ever want to. Steeling her resolve, she returned Raising Heart to a ready position. "I see. That's too bad, then."

She really hadn't wanted to solve this scenario by blasting everything to kingdom come. Truthfully, she had more important things to deal with and would have preferred to end this situation without wasting energy. But at the moment, _time _was becoming more important than stamina. At least they'd been kind enough to provide yet more proof that holding back was pointless...

The distance attacker shakily leveled it's own damaged limbs, lobbing some sort of grenade. Nanoha, being smarter than a rock, instantly assumed that there was more to a slow, unguided projectile than met the eye, and her paranoia was rewarded quickly enough. The grenade exploded in a cloud of smaller explosive darts that rained over the area. _Not much power behind them, though. Anti-personnel weapon, for clearing out light targets. _Once again, Nanoha was struck with a sense of sadness. They were even running out of ordinance that could really harm her. How could anyone do that to a person, to even strip away so much as their sense of self-preservation? Maybe Chrono was right after all, and not holding back would be doing them a favor.

She dodged beyond the edges of the cloud without too much difficulty; no need to waste energy defending if she didn't have to. Just in case, she kept a watch on the small darts to be sure they really were purely ballistic and didn't have some kind of homing function, even as she concentrated a new combat spell in her mind to...

"Wark?" said a very faint sound from far beneath her, perched on a rock in the shallows.

Nanoha's eyes widened at the implications of this.

Now, looking in from the outside, what she was about to do seemed pretty stupid. Unreasonable at the very least, completely moronic at worst. But to her, it seemed to really be the only viable option. It didn't make much sense, she could admit that, but she simply couldn't imagine doing anything differently. It was only natural for her. After all, most heroes don't get to be that way by always doing the smart thing.

**"Flash Move." **Raising Heart said, the enhancement giving Nanoha a short, sharp burst of speed. When next she became easily followed by human eyes, she was a considerable distance from her former position... and in a move that seemed to make even the Black Cats confused, directly _in _the path of the missiles that she had previously avoided without much trouble. She held up her hand, a circle of magic appearing before her palm as her defensive magic materialized. One by one the projectiles struck and detonated, the smoke obscuring Nanoha's form and each impact visibly rocking her even through her shield. Despite this, she firmly held, sweat running down her face, until the final explosive was blocked.

Power still burning in her palm, she lowered her hand. Even as the shield vanished, magical power began to brilliantly shine around her body and staff.

"I don't care," She said calmly, even as raw power blazed around her, "If you point those guns at me. That's fine. But if you're going to be so careless with your weaponry, then I can't just stand by. There are people I need to deal with still, so I was hoping to solve this problem efficiently and leave myself plenty of energy to do that... but if you're going to start endangering innocent bystanders, I'll have to settle for solving it quickly."

"Wark?" the penguin said, standing right where the missiles would have struck if Nanoha hadn't deflected them. It wasn't the smartest of creatures, but it seemed to be vaguely aware that something bad had almost happened to it and the Weird White Flying Thing That Gave Food had prevented this.

She smiled at the little bird. "Don't worry, little fella, I won't let them hurt you. Now why don't you run along? It really isn't safe here, and it's going to be even less safe once I get started."

"Wark." The penguin said, waddling over to the water and hopping in. Agreeable birds, really. She wondered if there was some law against importing alien animals to other worlds, because her mother and sister had been sort of down ever since Yuuno left, and these birds seemed clean, friendly, and easy to train.

"Good boy." She said warmly. The magic surrounding her as an aura crystallized into a circle around her, and Raising Heart loaded three cartridges in rapid succession, before ejecting the empty clip. Nanoha slammed another clip in, and two more of the shells loaded. "All right then... since you two don't seem to understand the theory behind accurate firing control, let me show you what it looks like."

* * *

Their battle had kept going in much the same way it had initially begun.

The thing about Vita and Susanoo was that both of them used as their primary strategy, 'Hit the other guy really hard'. And while both of them were durable enough to _take _being hit really hard, the building they were fighting in was not. And, as a result, the fight had essentially devolved into, 'hit the other guy really hard, and then try to maintain a little control when the floor inevitably collapses and you fall through'. Susanoo of course also had to deal with the added statute of 'Try not to land on top of Vita when you fall because she already sort of thinks you're a pervert after that whole panty incident, and she'll get mad. Plus, do you really want to give Big Sis more ammunition?', but it still added up to mostly the same thing.

Okay, that last part only really applied to one of the two combatants, but still. They progressed through the half-built structure, demolishing it as they went and falling floor by floor. It was a pretty tall building, but they were pretty efficient destroyers, so it wasn't all that long before an overhand chop from Vita sent the both of them finally tumbling into the basement. _I hope there's not a sub-basement. If I can get at him in an environment that's not falling to pieces, I can probably get some good shots in. _Vita thought cheerfully, jumping down after him. Things were finally looking up a little bit!

Susanoo leapt smoothly to his feet and swung his glowing blade upwards to intercept her downward attack. The two weapons cast of waves of energy that tore divots in the concrete walls, and the sheer force of her assault made the ground beneath his feet crack, but he most definitely did _not _fall through the floor. Score, this really was the lowest level! But... um... wasn't there something weird about...?

Susanoo was not exactly stupid; it was just that he had a tendency to stick to the first idea he came up with in any situation, and largely ignored anything that might derail that thought, even when it became obvious that something was wrong. But he was, especially in a combat situation, surprisingly observant, and even as he hurled Vita against one of the walls in a shower of sparks and braced himself for her inevitable counter, his mind added up several things that he had observed but hadn't really considered until now, and they began to make him a little bit worried about something.

_Well, that's not good. _He thought. _Can't enjoy the fight if I'm distracted. But I hate to stop it if this doesn't turn out to be important, so should I bother to bring it up? Hmmmm... yeah, I should at least ask her. She might know something I don't know. _

Vita emerged from the Vita-shaped indent in one of the basement walls, and in single smooth motion landed on catlike on her feet and charged her opposition hammer-first, with intent to put him into the floor if she couldn't put him through it.

Susanoo responded to this ferocious assault by holding up one hand and saying, "Wait, wait, wait. Time out!"

Vita stopped in mid-swing, skidding to a halt on her heels and her eyes widening in some combination of surprise, confusion, and annoyance. "_Time-out?_" She asked in disbelief, apparently blind to the irony that she had essentially created a time-out in the fight by stopping to complain about her opponent trying to call a time-out.

"I have a question. Is it weird that there were _no _people in this building at all? Like construction crews? I mean sure, some of them would be affected by the barrier, but shouldn't at least a few still be here? I haven't seen or sensed anybody." Susanoo said.

"I don't know! Maybe?" Vita said. What kind of a question was that? Hadn't this guy ever heard of not looking a gift horse in the mouth? There was nobody here, they didn't have to hold back, don't complain!

"Well... I mean, another thing, doesn't this building break a little too easily? Like, shouldn't newly completed construction be sturdier?"

Vita was about to answer that no, this wasn't unusual, she was just really great at breaking stuff. Then she heard something that changed her mind: a soft beeping sound, with intermittent crackles of static. It had been easy to miss while they were fighting, but now that things were silent it wasn't hard to pick up.

As one, Vita and Susanoo turned to look at the source of the noise.

"Well." Susanoo said calmly, looking at the white plastic discs covering the buildings lower supports, at least one of which was cracked and releasing sparks. "Those look like demolition charges to me."

"Yup." Vita said, also surprisingly calm. "Seems this building was set to be demolished. I thought it was under construction when I led us here, but I guess it looked half-finished because it was being taken apart and stripped of any remaining useful materials before they blew out the bottom and collapsed it. Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"I don't see a timer, so they're probably remote detonation. Blow out the foundation, the whole structure collapses straight downward. As long as the immediate area is cleared, nobody gets hurt at all. Unless they're like, in the basement. Like us." Susanoo said.

"What do you suppose are the odds," Vita asked, "That the one over there is sparking because we damaged it when we fell down here, and it's going to blow up any second now?"

They both considered this for a moment.

Then they took off for the hole they'd fallen through to get here, as fast as they could. It was pretty fast. Not fast _enough_, but still.

It really was a very clean demolition job. The support struts removed and lower floors demolished, the building collapsed directly downwards like a telescope being folded up. With the area around it clear, there was no danger to anyone; it just blew up a huge cloud of dust and looked terribly impressive. Unless you were, like... in the basement.

The actual collapse was, of course, very loud. But once it finished and the last chunks of sliding rubble finished moving, it was very quiet for several very, very long minutes. Indeed, by the time something began stirring in the rubble, nearly all of the dust had already settled.

Vita pushed a section of wall off her back and crawled from the debris, coughing up dust. "Ow..." She said.

A minute or two later, Susanoo did and said much the same.

Vita took a deep breath, cleared the last of the drywall out of her throat, and looked in his general direction.

"_**You idiot!**_" She roared, making him jump about a foot out of his skin.

"Wh-what? Why am I an idiot?" He asked indignantly.

"You almost got us both killed! And then when the stupid bomb went off you hid behind _my _shield!"

"I needed a stable defense in place so I could attack upwards to intercept falling debris and keep a path out of the rubble open! And besides, it was _your _fault we were in that building in the first place!"

"Yeah, but it was _your _fault that it exploded! Throwing lightning around when a bomb is in the room!"

"_I didn't know about the bombs! _And hey, it wouldn't have mattered if _you _hadn't knocked us into the basement!"

"We could've avoided the city all together if _you _hadn't steered us in!"

"Well..."

"_And _we wouldn't even be on this _planet _if it weren't for you!" Vita finished in utter triumph.

"Um... uh... well..." Susanoo said, totally lost for a meaningful reply. Oh well, time to go for a meaning_less _reply, then. "Well... you're really small!"

"_**What?**_"

"You're like... like Smally McSmall!" He continued. Yeah, it was petty. He didn't care.

Vita's eyes narrowed in wrath. There could be only one response. "Well, at least my _brain _is bigger than yours!"

"Tiny! Tiny! Tiny!"

"Dummy! Dummy! Dummy!"

The two knights, each an ancient and mighty warrior of immense power and dignity, stuck their tongues out at each other. It looked _exactly _as stupid as it sounds.

"Wait..." Susanoo said, holding up a hand. As the tall one (_Ha! I'm taller than her! Tiny! Tiny!) _he felt it was incumbent upon him to be the voice of reason. "We're being irrational."

Vita took a deep, calming breath, and nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. You're right. We have to be logical about this. How does this sound... we both fly up to high sky, away from innocent people. We beat the tar out of each other. And whoever loses has to admit that the building exploding was their fault."

Susanoo considered this for a moment. Finally, after much deliberation, he said, "Oh, I _like _you."

* * *

Precia nodded as the final beacon activated and began digging into the crust. It was hard to be truly satisfied, given that the task she has just undertaken could have been performed just as well by a trained monkey (though again, it would have to have been a pretty exceptional... oh, you get the idea), but at least it was over and done with. What to do now, though... head back and continue attempting to streamline the essentially unstreamline-able process? Or head to Rienne and once again dirty her hands with combat in an attempt to aid the Gate activation? Frankly, neither option sounded pleasant, but she was aware that, given the importance of the situation, she really ought to do _something. _

So... she could either risk her life in bloody conflict or spend time with Enlil.

War it was, then.

* * *

Hayate's sealed device rested on the console, and Reinforce Zwei's image hovered above it. The little holographic girl floated with her hands outstretched, her eyes closed in concentration.

Around her, lights danced. Beneath her... machinery _functioned._

"Oh, you are one amazing little piece of equipment, aren't you?" Amy muttered in wonder.

"Please don't refer to my family as 'equipment'." Hayate said. "Particularly when she's concentrating too hard to respond to you herself."

"Sorry, couldn't help it." Amy said, a cheerfully wicked smile fixed on her lips. "I just totally love my new little Belkan cheat code. Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially running our backups at 27% of main computer capacity."

Talia sighed. "And it really says something about how horrible the situation is that we're considering that to be _good._"

"It's better than nothing!" Amy said stubbornly. "It's enough to let us manage most of the systems we need to play backup, without worrying about the enemy forcing us to vent our atmosphere or something absurd like that. If we come under attack or anything that requires all the systems at once, then yes we're in trouble. But if we just have to be the support network, then I'd say we're in business!"

Then the alarm klaxon went off.

Amy's eyes narrowed. "Oh, come _on. _What is it now? What are you throwing at me _now, _hiding in your secret evil lair and making a mess of my ship? Going to make the food processors shoot bees? Force the engines spin us in circles until we all get so dizzy we throw up? _Make the food processors shoot bees that cause nausea? _Bring it _on _you bastards, I can take whatever you've _got_."

Hayate raised a hand hesitantly. "Um... actually, I think that's a field alert. According to the readouts, it seems a high-priority threat signature has been detected near the main battle site. It's... oh dear."

Amy read the analysis of the magical signature that had appeared in the combat zone on Rienne, and the indications that it was a very familiar signature indeed.

"Oh, my. Is that Precia Testarossa? The magus who fell into the dimensional void and recently became known as the first recorded person to do so and survive? The SS-class archmage who rendered a vast swathe of Mid uninhabitable as a result of her unprecedented experiments? _That _Precia? And she's on the battlefield right now?" Talia Aston said, eyes widening. "God, you people really do rack up the enemies, don't you?"

"We're just lucky that way, I guess..." Amy muttered. "Um... if Fate is handling communications for us, I'd assume she's also monitoring the situation. If she sees this..."

"_Er... excuse me? Shamal to bridge?" _Shamal's voice said over the ship's intercomm. "_Would it be possible to send some security officers down to Medical? It seems Miss Fate is on her way to Teleport Control."_

"... and why would that require security intervention?" Amy asked, her stomach sinking.

"_Well, Admiral Lindy tried to forbid her from leaving the ship by locking her in the medical bay, and Fate... got out." _Shamal said. "_By cutting the door down." _

Hayate sighed. "It seems that Fate might have seen it."

* * *

"Fate, you're being unreasonable." Lindy said. She was aware that her daughter was in an emotionally confusing place right now, and was trying to solve this problem as a mother rather than an authority figure.

"I don't think I am." Fate said calmly, stalking through the halls with her barrier jacket active and a glowing scythe in her hands, looking like a tiny, adorable incarnation of Death.

It should be noticed that Lindy was having mixed results in her problem-solving efforts.

"You're wounded. Not at your best. You shouldn't..." Lindy said.

"I'm _fine. _Don't worry, mother." Fate said, with a not-quite-genuine smile.

"Are you? You know how dangerous Precia is. Even at your best you might not be able to face her."

"I _can. _More than that, I think I have to." Fate answered firmly. "Mother... I've been doing a lot of thinking about her. What I should feel about her, what I should do about her. I've had a lot of time to consider it. And I think that... well, I think that I need to save her. If... maybe if even the 'doll' she made all those years ago stands up to her and stops her, she could maybe finally be convinced that she can't succeed. She'd never admit it on her own, but if I can _force _her to see that what she's trying to do is impossible, then there's a chance that I can finally bring this mad crusade she's been on all these years to an end. Then, if she can move on with her life, then maybe... maybe someday..."

Fate paused, shaking her head as if to clear the cobwebs from her thoughts. "I don't really think that the two of us could ever be 'family'. Not really, not after everything that's happened between us. But she, even if she's never really going to be a 'mother' to me, she still gave me life. If I can at least bring her to a point where she can show something to the world besides rage and pain, to the point where she and I can at least interact as _people, _instead of 'doll and doll-maker'... then I want to do that. I _need _to."

Lindy sighed in resignation. "Fate... I understand how you feel. But can you promise me that once you're face to face with her, you'll be able to stay this calm? That anger, or fear, or even pity won't have some effect on how you pursue this case? A mage in battle has to be focused on the task at hand. Can you _promise _me that your thoughts and feelings won't interfere with this at all?"

Fate smiled softly. "I'm not confused anymore, mother. It took me awhile, but I found my path, and I've found my resolve. I can do this, I _know _it."

Lindy laid a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "And what about Arf? If you go into battle now, you'll have to cut the supply of mana you're giving her. She'll experience a sudden, sharp power decrease during a combat situation. Are you willing to risk her life for your own purposes?"

It was a bit strange to watch. Before Lindy's eyes, her daughter seemed to almost deflate, the reality of her situation kicking her new resolve right in the teeth.

"I... I... no. You're right, I couldn't put her at risk, of course. But _w_hat about the others? Mothe... Precia is extremely powerful. Her presence on the battlefield, particularly at bombardment range, could throw the tide of the whole battle against us. It would take her some time, but if nobody engages her she could begin setting up high ritual magics and targeting our mages from halfway across the continent. So _someone_ has to stand up to her, and if it's not me, then who exactly would you..." Fate began.

"Me." Lindy said cheerfully.

"Wait, what?" Fate asked, her brief bout of depressed resignation now replaced with shock and considerable confusion. She wasn't sure what to say. _I'm sorry, Mother, I must have had something ****__insane __caught __in my ear, because it sounded like you just said you were going to go into the field personally. _That would probably have been impolite.__

"I shall handle this situation personally, in your place. If Precia is your responsibility, and as my daughter you are _my_ responsibility, then it stands to reason that she is my responsibility by proxy. So I will head into the field and bring her into custody personally." Lindy said, still with that same sunny cheer. "It's been ages since I've done a real field operation... why, since the last Testarossa case, I believe, when I sealed the Garden of Time's power source. It ought to be very refreshing to flex those muscles again."

Fate said the only thing that really made sense in this situation.

"... Are you serious?"

* * *

**Author's Note: **... **This chapter and the next chapter were supposed to be one. I ended up cutting it off at the cliffhanger because it would have been too long to include it all as one chapter. Does this note sound familiar? It should, because I've said pretty much the same thing like, five times now.  
**

**_I'm doing it to myself again. _**

**Well, at least Signum gets a well-deserved break, since her next scene of being molested b... er, _dueling_ Ammy got pushed back to next chapter. _  
_**


	25. Burning Sky

**Author's Note: Yes, it's possible I took another month to get a chapter out. But... er... it's longer than usual! Really! (And yet it still couldn't fit everything I wanted into it! I have a problem.)**

**Actually? If we're being honest, I'm not sure how satisfied I am with this chapter. Maybe it's just me, but something seems... off about it. Maybe I was rushing to get it out when I realized how long it had been since last update.  
**

**Chapter 24: Burning Sky**

"Mother, you can't really be serious."

"No, I really am." Lindy said cheerfully. She was clad in a typical field agent's Barrier Jacket. "And take a look at me! Aren't I cute? Though I guess this outfit really does look good on anybody."

"I... aren't you supposed to stay with the ship? You're in command." Fate said, trying very hard to think of reasons that Lindy should not... well, do this totally insane thing she was trying to do.

"No, Admiral Mizetto is. _I _am going out into the field. Ah, the life of a field operative, how I've missed it." Lindy said. Still cheerfully, in case you were interested.

"But... but..." Fate said, her brain having a little bit of difficulty coping with this bizarre behavior. "Mother, my... er, my _other _mother... you don't know how strong she is! She's at her full power again, and she could really kill you!"

"I'm sure she'll try." Lindy agreed, once again cheerfully. It was as if she had no mode other than 'cheerful' at the moment.

"I'm more worried that she'll succeed!" Fate protested. "She's an SS-ranked mage!"

"Technically that ranking is outdated and doesn't apply to combat ability. She might deserve higher." Lindy agreed. Cheerfully, of course.

"That's... mother, you aren't even a front-line combatant, and you don't even have a device! How can you think you could defeat her one-on-one?"

"What? Of course I... oh, that's right, I didn't show you." Lindy said, reaching into her pocket and withdrawing a small black card. "I... er... borrowed it."

"Oh, that's not the important part and you know it, mother! Some random standard-issue storage device won't change the fact that you aren't a combat..." Fate blinked. "Wait is that S2U...? Mother... please tell me you didn't steal that from Chrono."

"Borrowed! I _borrowed _it from Chrono. Without him noticing, admittedly, but still. It's just that it's an excellent piece of equipment, and since he doesn't use it anymore I really thought I should have something to give me that extra edge. I'll give it back!" Lindy said defensively, clutching the tiny black sealed device.

"... you know what, it's not important right now." Fate said, shaking her head as if to force her thoughts back on track. "Mother, I can't just let you go and do this. You don't know how powerful _or _how unstable she is, and she'll..."

Lindy placed a calming hand on Fate's shoulder. "Fate, please. I'm happy that you're worried about me, but I can take care of myself. And besides, it's a parent's job to worry about their child, not the other way around. I'll be fine, and I'll be right here to fret over you the next time _you _go on a dangerous mission." Lindy said. "All right, Amy. I'm ready to transmit whenever you are."

"_Um... Admiral, I hate to agree with Fate, but I agree with Fate. Are you really __**serious **about this**?**_" Amy asked over the intercom.

"Quite so, Amy." Lindy said cheerfully. It was starting to get old. "Now, send me to the last detected location of the criminal Precia Testarossa, if you don't mind?"

_"But..._"

"Now, Amy." Lindy said. She no longer sounded all that cheerful.

_"Yessir, sorrysir, rightawaysir!" _Amy babbled, and Lindy disappeared in a shower of light.

"Amy." Fate said. "Prepare a transit for me, too."

_"Aren't you supposed to be on sick leave?"_

"My friends are in danger, and my mother is most likely walking to her death! I don't _care!_" Fate said firmly.

"_Yeah, I guess I should have expected that._ _But what about Arf? Admiral Lindy said..."_

"Yes, I know. That's why you're _sending _me to Arf. I'll help her get out of her situation, and then the two of us will head straight to the main battlefield. Is that understood?"

"_B-but your mom said..."_

"Now, Amy." Fate said. She sounded eerily like her mother. Eerily like _both _of her mothers, somehow.

"_... Harlaowns are scary..." _Amy said.

* * *

Precia's mind traveled the world. _One, two, three, four, five... _she thought, spotting out potential targets. _This should be amusing for the twenty minutes it takes me to kill every last one of them._

High-end distance bombardment magics were perhaps her greatest asset, combat-wise. She could, with sufficient preparation, knock unshielded spacecraft offline and strike targets in different _dimensions; _she knew this because she had _done _so. Granted, such a feat would be impossible without the Garden of Time to assist in aiming and spell transfer, but striking targets in the same world, from a scant few kilometers away? By the time anyone realized what was going on and tracked her down, she'd already have thrown the course of battle irrevocably in her side's fav-

Precia sighed in annoyance at the tell-tale sound of an incoming teleport behind her. She turned and raised an eyebrow. "Only one? Somebody's overconfident."

"Oh, I don't know about that. I mean, it's so hard to tell the difference between 'overconfident' and 'just confident enough', isn't it?" Lindy asked. Cheerfully.

Precia blinked several times, in some combination of surprise and confusion. "To be blunt, if I was to be attacked by a lone idiot, I was expecting it to be a lone idiot I recognized. Fate, or perhaps the little white brat. You're... nobody." Though she hated to admit it, but there was _something _painfully familiar about the oddly cheerful woman.

"Lindy Harlaown. We've never met face-to-face, but I was the commanding officer of the _Asura _during the Jewel Seed incident." Lindy said. Ah, well, that explained it. She'd been on the Bridge of the ship when Precia had contacted it, of course. She was familiar because Precia had heard her voice before. Granted, Precia had not been, perhaps, in the clearest frame of mind at the time, so details were hard to come by, but this at least explained the nagging sense of _deja vu_. "And now I'm here to ruin you again, if that's all right? Wait... wait, I was supposed to say something, wasn't I? Oh, yes: You're under arrest. Should you not resist, you will have the right to defend yourself in a court of law. Oh, just listen to me! I've still got it, don't I? I sound so official!"

Precia blinked a few more times. Surprise was rapidly leaving the combination of emotions she was feeling, but confusion was still right there. "Are... are you _serious_?" She asked.

"Why do people get asking me that?" Lindy sighed. "Yes, I am quite serious, Ms. Testarossa, and you are quite seriously under arrest. Now, will you surrender?"

Precia considered this briefly. "Guess." She said, and flicked her fingers almost idly.

A solid wall of violet lightning slammed mercilessly into Lindy's hastily raised shield... and crushed it like a boot on a soda can, ripping through it to run across her staff and barrier jacket, tossing her through the skies in electric spasms. She somehow didn't fall from the air, but she was in obvious agony; the hands that held her borrowed staff were burned, her breath came in short gasps, and sections of her barrier jacket were visibly smoking.

Precia smirked. "I was expecting this to take a _little _effort, you know."

With visible effort, Lindy raised her head and brushed a charred lock of hair out of her eyes. "You're... still... under... arrest..." she gasped.

Precia rolled her eyes, and almost idly flicked her fingers again.

* * *

Most people had never seen Nanoha Takamachi fight seriously.

Not intensely, _seriously. _She fought with intensity all the time. Nanoha was strong and she liked to win, so fighting with effort was nothing to her. But fighting with serious intent to destroy, holding nothing back? That was basically unheard of. Really, the only thing that had ever seen it from the receiving end was the berserk defense program of the Book of Darkness, which should have said something about the situation that would actually push her to draw on that level of force.

First, the enemy must not be even remotely approachable. They must be something that not only refuses to see reason but is not even _capable _of seeing reason, something monstrous and inhuman that will only destroy and destroy and destroy until it is stopped.

Second, there must be innocent lives in danger. Her own did not count; these had to be other innocent lives. A whole world… her friends… even some silly little alien penguins that she'd spent a few minutes playing with, just for fun. She must have something to _protect. _

Should these circumstances be met, it is possible to see Nanoha Takamachi fight with true seriousness. It is, despite the brilliantly magnificent light-show that tended to result, not a pretty sight. She doesn't get any more powerful, or faster, or more intelligent somehow, no.

She just gets less friendly.

The six pink bullets snapped through the air, splitting to encircle the two cyborgs. All she really wanted was to keep them together so she could just wipe them both out with one shot. She accomplished this by sending the bullets shooting inwards and punching several fist-sized holes through their armor. Defensive efforts were made, but Raising Heart was in Excellion form, and another cartridge was easy enough to load. The defenses shattered, and the bullets began swarming around and between the two cyborgs like berserk hornets.

And, occasionally, swarming _through _them. They didn't feel pain, or fear, so there was only one way to really herd them in a specific direction, and that was to _hit _them in that direction. _ Good, good, that's right. Keep up the power, keep up the pressure, don't allow them even a moment to counterattack, push them onto the defensive until..._

There. That should be close enough.

"Restrain!" Nanoha commanded, Raising Heart loading two cartridges as she did so. "Barrel Shot!"

The wave of energy, invisible save for the air and dust it disturbed, slammed into the two cyborgs. Both began to vibrate in place as they struggled futilely against the motion restriction spell, caught in place like flies in amber. Eventually, they most likely would have been able to break free, but for the moment they were still, and very, very close together...

Raising Heart was leveled in their direction, and three more cartridges slammed home. "I'm sorry. I really am." Nanoha said. If Chrono was right, she was doing them a favor, but... they'd been people, once. Even if the only thing she could do was apologize, she should do that much.

"Excelion..."

"**... Buster."**

Nanoha took a deep breath as she watched the cloud of smoke. Nothing emerged, not even debris... just to be safe, she sent the remaining spell bullets under her control ripping through the cloud. No impact of any sort; they were gone. Presumably destroyed, or at least damaged enough to merit extraction, then. She released the tension in her body, and let out a deep sigh of mixed weariness and relief.

That... had probably not been smart. All told, the price for ending this battle quickly had been nearly as much energy as she'd used in the final assault spells she'd launched at the berserk Book of Darkness defense program. Her hands were aching, her head was pounding, and she was down to her last five cartridges. True, she was now free to move on to the main battle site, but she might not be much actual help once she got there.

_Speaking of... Hello, _Asura_? _Nanoha thought. _This is Nanoha. I'm ready to move on._

A little fatigue was no reason to quit, after all._  
_

* * *

"_Zafira!_" Yuuno shouted in horror as the Black Cat struck home.

It became instantly apparent that something was wrong, though not quite so instantly apparent for whom.

The cyborg's blade sunk into flesh, but not the flesh it had been aiming for. For instance, it had been aiming for the throat of a wolf, and somehow it's blade was embedded in the stomach of a human.

Zafira smiled, blood running from his mouth. He didn't smile often; even in human form, his teeth looked far, far too much like fangs for the comfort of most people. Arf was chipper enough to not really care about this, but Zafira was a little more considerate... unless he was _trying _to be intimidating. "I have you now." He said, with just a hint of triumph in his tone. He then clasped his hands onto the bladed limb embedded in his abdomen, and ripped it off.

The Black Cat responded to this by drawing its remaining arm back to make another attack. Zafira could admit he was in a bad place; a gaping gut wound plugged only by the fact that the blade was still in it, and the enemy seemingly undisturbed by the loss of one of its arms. It occurred to him that perhaps he'd only managed to delay the inevitable... only for green chains of light to snare the limb as it was pulled back, a reminder that he was still fighting with a partner even if he didn't have a ferret on his head anymore.

Yuuno held his hand out. "You don't get away this time!" He promised.

That strange, sourceless electronic voice spoke once again, **Defensive Skill: Magic Can-**

It was at this point that the creature stopped talking. Not because it had decided to cancel the technique, but because the technique had been quite forcibly shut down by Zafira pulling the cyborg's own severed arm from his stomach and driving it through the center of the creature's chest, blade first.

Still, it wasn't a complete waste. A combination of the preemptively-ended antimagic wave and Yuuno's own need to get to his ally and make sure the Guardian Beast wasn't about to drop dead in the air allowed the remaining cyborg to break free. It fell back briefly, apparently to determine the best method to continue the battle now that it was on its own.

"Are you all right?" Yuuno asked. "No, that's stupid, you have a big hole in you. Hold still, I'll set up a healing barrier, that should help a-"

"Go..." Zafira rumbled, using one hand to hold his wound closed. "Go after the girl. I'll hold here."

"What? No! I can't just leave you alone here to..."

"I'll be fine. This thing is just a distraction. Leave me be and go stop the real threat, I will hold it here." The Guardian Beast said. "Don't worry. I'm not so weak that a threat of this level will be enough to bring me down..."

"That's insane! You should withdraw completely, I can handle him and..."

"And he _isn't the real threat._" Zafira said firmly, his tone allowing no argument. "We need as many resources as we can muster to go to that city and intercept the girl with the Logia, correct? I'd be little use, but you can still at least delay her."

"I... I..."

Zafira narrowed his eyes. "Go, before I get angry."

"... Fine. But you'd better not die." Yuuno said softly, flying away from the battlefield and onto the next.

Zafira's expression turned grim as he turned to the one remaining cyborg, his entire body taking on a white glow that only made the blood stand out more. "Well? Come on, then."

* * *

The scene, overall, looked a little bit like Hell must have.

It had started with Signum realizing that she would need a new strategy. She had confirmed that, if she drew on her fullest power and went all out, she could outmatch Amaterasu in pure strength. However, the other woman was still faster and, though she hated to admit it, most likely a more skilled (or at least more ruthless) close-combatant. Attempting to simply overpower her constantly would simply make her go on the evasive until Signum ran low on power. And so the Wolkenritter general had decided to think outside the box (the 'box', in this instance, being sanity) and utilize a strategy that Nanoha Takamachi had used to some effect against this same opponent. The girl had managed to bypass her enemy's superior experience by throwing the battlefield into utter chaos, creating a situation that rendered analysis useless. Such a scenario would hamper Amaterasu's combat instincts to the point of rendering them almost useless, bringing the two women back onto equal ground.

So she had shifted Laevatein into Serpent Form, extended the blade to its fullest, and swung her arm in a single wide circled, bringing half the forest down on top of them.

It had more-or-less worked; the trees falling at random, collapsing into each other, propping one another up and falling out of these fragile balances unpredictably, it had been a highly chaotic battlefield. Amaterasu was indeed too distracted by the rapidly shifting landscape to fight with the same level of concentration she'd been showing until now.

Then Amaterasu had laughed. "Oh, you _are _something else, aren't you? Not as rigid as I thought, willing to walk on the wild side! Then let's crank this up another notch, kitten!"

And then she'd set the whole damn mess on fire.

The already teetering, chaotic mess of dead trees was now crumbling in entirely different, much hotter ways. At any given moment, an ancient tree might finally give out and send vast chunks of burning wood crashing to the forest floor. The sky was flooded with embers, and thick smoke obscured the battlefield. It was, basically, madness.

And in the center of the madness, the two ancient warriors were truly in their element.

Signum and Amaterasu sprinted along the trunk of one of the half-fallen trees, the flames licking at their coats. Sparks rose from the clashes of their weapons as they ran, once, twice, three times before the tree gave out underneath them, forcing them to leap to safety in opposite directions. Amaterasu connected with another tree and leapt off it to reverse her course, even as Signum skidded to a halt amid the soot and burning debris the was rapidly covering the forest floor. The two women, their weapons burning even more brightly than the forest around them, crashed together in a monstrous explosion that only worsened the spreading blaze.

Barely even acknowledging the force with which they were thrown apart, they rushed back into melee range. Amaterasu stepped slightly back, just out of easy melee range, whipping her spear around her in long, graceful curves that appeared slow, but moved with deceptive speed to slash at any seeming vulnerability. But if Amaterasu was all curves, than Signum was brutally efficient lines, moving _exactly _as fast as she appeared to be, sealing off those vulnerabilities the instant Kagutsuchi struck at them and pushing the spear back, only to have it be spun around and brought in another arc at another target. Neither woman could land a strike, and neither would retreat. In the end, the duel was only halted by the environment once more, as a burning trunk slammed into the ground between them and forced them apart once more.

Signum, without a moment's hesitation, drew her arm back, Laevatein loading a trio of cartridges and bursting into flame. The burning blade segmented, whirling around her like an angry snake. "Hiryu Issen!" She snapped, sending blade and flame alike crashing into the obstacle in front of her. The already unstable tree shattered as the attack plowed through it, to reveal... nothing.

"Your aim's a bit off, kitten!" Amaterasu said jovially, shouting to be heard over the inferno. Signum could not see her, but it was fairly obvious _that _problem was not mutual. Ah, so she was being watched from hiding, which meant death was around the corner again...

Signum grinned, stopping only when she realized she was wearing a smile and angrily forced it from her lips. The problem, she realized, was that something disturbing was happening.

She was finding she didn't actually hate Amaterasu.

The woman had the personality of an animal in heat; a poisonous animal, no less. She was, if not outright insane, than at least dangerously close. She was, frankly, a monster. A different sort of monster than Signum had once been and that Amaterasu was so cheerful to see she no longer was, perhaps, but a monster nontheless. Signum had little doubt that the woman would indeed derive a sort of sick pleasure from killing her. And yet, Signum was still honestly having a good time.

Part of it was that the issues Amaterasu had forced her to confront were things she should have addressed before now. The nature of her changing personality, the cost of her devotion to Hayate, the loss of her former ruthless edge... the fact that bringing these up had 'gotten to her', however briefly, meant that she should have dealt with them long ago and that she owed her opponent for forcing her to confront them. But more than that...

The woman was an _equal_. Perhaps even a _superior_, possibly the first genuinely better fighter that Signum had dueled in centuries. If Fate had been a worthy enough opponent for their battles to inspire joy, than how much more was derived from this? From the sensation that she might well be outmatched and the slightest error in her form could end in death? Had there been no consequences other than her own safety riding on the outcome of this battle, Signum felt she would have been laughing openly, joyfully exchanging blade techniques with her opponent and walking the knife's edge between life and death with no fear in her heart. As it was, she was finding it harder and harder to keep a smile from her lips. She was doing so, however. God knew the _last _thing she needed was to give any hint of approval to the incessantly flirtatious twit.

Keeping her guard up, moving through the ash and smoke to try to lose her pursuer, Signum waited with bated breath for the moment the attack would come. She knew it would happen... the other woman was most likely watching her through the flames this very moment... every single one of her senses was working on overdrive to determine where, exactly, the assault would come from.

And as a result of this hyperawareness, Signum became painfully aware after nearly two full minutes that nothing was happening.

_Where is she? Is she toying with my mind again? Trying to make me slip up out of nerves, or... _

_Or..._

_Damn._

No attack was coming, because Amaterasu was gone. The lunatic had run away, and she was going for the Gate while Signum tromped through a forest fire!

Taking to the skies and bursting through the smoke in a rage, Signum took off at full speed behind the now-visible but rapidly shrinking red dot in the skies. _That little... argh! After all of that... that constant ****__talk __about how obsessed she is and all those ludicrous mind-games,_ she just **leaves** before settling our match without even a word? How could I have been thinking anything even remotely positive about her? She is the most unlikable, twisted, **obnoxious **_woman I have ever met, and when I catch her I am going to beat her into a bloody pulp! _

She knew how much these thoughts made her sound like Vita, but at the moment it was hard to care.

Much further ahead, and her lead growing by the second, Amaterasu smiled wickedly. _Aaaaah... how sweet! She's coming after me, even though she knows I'm too fast, and there's no way she'll manage to intercept me before we reach the city! She must be **furious.**____ I hope she doesn't calm down before she catches up... it will be totally worth bowing out of our dance early if I get to see her eyes sparkling with fury. So cute when she's angry..._

Whoever said you couldn't mix work and play had obviously never met Ammy.

* * *

"Fate, I know that you're not going to listen to me." Hayate said.

"Or me." Shamal added.

"But we really don't think you should be doing this."

"I'm listening to you," Fate said. The fact that she was standing the teleport center with Bardiche activated and her Barrier Jacket fully equipped made it clear that she was _not _listening, of course, but she was a polite girl. "But I'm still going."

"Fate, you're really not at your best." Shamal said. "You _do _need rest and time to heal, even if you don't feel like you do."

"I know, really." Fate said. "But the fact is, the people I love are in danger, and I can help. If that means a little risk... that's nothing new to me."

"We could stop you from going. Cutting off the transport would be easy enough, you know." Hayate said, simply.

"If pressed, I _can _teleport myself there." Fate said. "I'd prefer not to waste the energy, but I will if you make me."

"All right... if you absolutely can't be convinced, then I'm going with you." Hayate said.

Fate's eyes widened. "But you're...!"

"Not too much worse off than you are, at the moment. We can watch each other's back."

"No." Shamal said softly. "I accept that nothing I can do will stop Miss Fate from leaving. I imagine that even if I made it an official medical order, she would ignore me and accept the consequences later. But you, Hayate, will _not_ be going with her."

"Shamal," Hayate said, not unkindly, but in a tone that brooked no argument. "I will _not _be left behind while all of my friends and family are putting themselves in danger..."

"It isn't that, Hayate. I'm really not trying to protect you... well, not _only_ trying, anyway." Shamal said apologetically.

"Then what _are _you trying to do, Shamal? Because if you can't give me a convincing reason why I need to stay behind while everyone else is in danger, then I'm leaving right now." Hayate said firmly.

"Hayate... they still need Rein on the ship, so she has to stay here. And you can't walk without her."

"... ... ... ... ..." Hayate said.

"Sorry." Shamal said.

"... ... ... ... ..." Hayate said.

"Well, then. I'll just... be going." Fate said into the awkward silence, stepping onto the transit pad and disappearing in flecks of white light.

"Shamal?" Hayate said.

"Yes, Mistress?"

"This sucks."

"Yes, Mistress."

* * *

"Whoo-hoo!" Arf said, grasping the cyborg's ankle and swinging it around like she was doing the hammer toss.

It was possible she was having a bit too much fun. But hey: a hyper-charged adrenaline rush will do that to a girl.

Once she felt she'd built up enough force, she hurled the black figure with all her might, directly into the ground. The other one hadn't been moving since the last big blast she'd slammed it with, so with any luck this would be the end: it would hit the ground hard enough to render something internal too smashed-up to work, and that's that.

... _nah, that would have been too easy. _Arf thought in some combination of amusement and annoyance, watching as her buddy began attempting to dig itself out of the soft jungle soil she'd buried it in. _Should have known better. Need to basically rip them to pieces, don't ya? _

She smirked, and gathered golden light into her palm. _Well, that's workable. _Clutching the ball of lightning in her fist, she went into a dive, her fist held back to deliver one Hell of a jab.

The Black Cat managed to right itself and get out of the soft soil that had been holding it... too late. _Much _too late. A massive cloud of dust and leaves was kicked up as Arf hit home like a comet, striking the disoriented cyborg with far, far more force that it had hit the ground with.

A couple of things went wrong then.

It wasn't that she didn't destroy the Black Cat, no! Ha ha, that guy was _totally _screwed. In fact, she hit it with so much force that its upper body basically _exploded _in a shower of metal and plastic shards which vanished shortly afterward as the debris was reclaimed. It's just that she might have possibly hit with a little _too _much force. And, well, it was basically a rainforest, now that she wasn't in the part that was on fire anymore. The soil was wet, and soft, and she was crashing into it really, really fast. It took nearly five minutes to dig herself out. Getting the mud out of her fur would the work of hours. But still, she managed to get out with minimal difficulty.

Which was when the second thing went wrong, as a grenade detonated roughly a foot and a half away from her, and Arf learned a very valuable lesson about combat: just because you hit something with a 'big blast' and hadn't seen it since then, didn't mean it was dead.

The blast flung her like a rag doll; her auto-defenses were up and enough to keep from being, well, dead, but she was still not in the best shape. Slamming head first into a tree with bruising force didn't help the situation much. Further, her sensitive ears were ringing madly from the sound of the blast so close, combining with the other problems hitting her to leave her disoriented... and as a result vulnerable.

She never did find out why the creature didn't finish her off from a distance after catching her so cleanly. Perhaps that had been the last of its ordinance, or perhaps she'd managed to damage it enough that it wasn't certain of its targeting systems with any weapon that didn't have a giant blast radius. Perhaps it simply had a surprisingly sadistic sense of humor for a mindless machine. Whatever the reason, when the time came for the _coup de grace_, it extended one of those vicious blades and lunged.

_Oh... this isn't good... _Arf thought, seeing as the blade came in. Everything seemed to be moving so slowly, yet for some reason she couldn't get out of the way. It was like everything, even her perception of time, was suspended in some sticky fluid. _I guess maybe I got a little overconfident_. _I suppose by myself, this was too much to ask..._

The red blade came forward, excruciatingly slowly, but unavoidable. It was fortunate, then, that she didn't have to avoid it.

Arf suddenly felt the extra strength that she'd been running on the entire battle suddenly flood out of her limbs in a rush, leaving her feeling drained and dazed... but what actually caught her notice even more than that was that one thing among the entire world appeared suddenly to be moving at a perfectly normal speed among all the slow-motion.

A glowing golden blade tore through the air... and through Arf's assailant. The creature fell back, leaving an arm behind to fall to the jungle floor. The girl with the golden scythe was too quick for it, though; by the time it had managed to retreat to the distance it sought, she was already _behind _it, having looped past it . If it had backup, or if it had been in perfect working condition, maybe it would have been able to pose some sort of threat to her. But it was alone, and it was damaged.

And then it was in two pieces.

Fate smiled at her Familiar. " " She said.

"Huh? Fate, I can't hear you." Arf said.

Fate winced. _Arf you're shouting. Are your ears all right?_

_I... kinda got caught off guard there. I've got some ringing, I won't deny. _

_Are you all right? I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, but there was a fire where I landed and it took me awhile to track you down..._

_Ah. Yeah, there was that. Napalm or something. But really, it wasn't too bad. I'm... here, try talking to me out loud. _

"C-n y- h-r m-?" Fate asked.

"Alm..." Arf began shouting, before switching back to telepathy, _Almost. Maybe with a few more minutes. But beyond the ears, I feel pretty good now that I've cleared my head. I can keep going. Can ****__you? __I thought you were on medical leave._

___Well, I certainly hope I can, because we're moving on to Rienne as soon as the _Asura _can send us,__ and I'm going with you whether you like it or not. _Fate thought.

Arf smiled at that. _Don't worry. I've been by your side long enough to know I can't argue through that thick head of yours, Master._

_... ... I'm choosing to take that as a compliment. _Fate thought._  
_

* * *

Chrono fell back.

It wasn't a trap, this time. Or rather, it _should _have been a trap, but Tsukuyomi had, unlike either her brother or the Black Cats, seen it coming. The delayed bind he had placed in his former location shattered, and left him with nothing to lure her into as he barely dodged yet another attack spell that he had no hope of repelling.

The battle was going, overall, poorly. Chrono's fighting style revolved around skill, rather than power. He fought with traps, deception, luring the opponent into conditions favorable to himself and unfavorable to them. But with this girl, he just couldn't. Her elemental affinity was the perfect counter to his own, but more than that, he just couldn't wrap his mind around the way she thought. Attempts to predict her actions or deceive her almost invariably showed that not only had she seen through it, she had prepared a countermove that _he _then had to see through, and some of them were just insane.

Right now, for instance.

His initial plan had been to take a hit... _one _hit, a minor one. He would play this up, pretending to be wounded more severely than he actually was, and fall back. In the space he had vacated, he left a delayed binding spell. But far from trusting this to be the end, he prepared a _second _trap, knowing that she would anticipate the first: another spell was waiting around the first, a much less intense version of the cold explosion he'd used to defeat the two cyborgs. Should she see the bind coming and try to loop around it, she would be walking right into some nasty frostbite.

So what she had done, rather than the logical course of pursuing a fleeing and wounded opponent, was instead loop up and round the battlefield while simultaneously directly a missile of liquid through the traps he'd laid. The binding sparked uselessly around an unbindable target, and the other spell... well, freezing water didn't work so well here, as she'd proven once already.

And then, to make matters even worse, when the interaction of light and water died down enough to allow him unrestricted vision, there were two of the girl coming after him.

Not too horrible, though; he'd known she was an illusionist. The obvious solution was that one of the girls was real, and one was fake. But then, the obvious solution was almost certainly a trap, wasn't it? Most likely, both of the girls he saw were illusions, and the real one was behind a veil of some sort. But invisibility magic was never perfect, and she would leave some sort of...

_There. _A shimmering in the air, just barely perceptible. That was her, and that was where the real attack was coming from. Chrono raised his staff and said, "Durandal, lock on targets! We'll take out both of them in one go!"

**"Stinger Snipe**." Durandal obliged, charging a bolt of azure light that could be directed at will. The beam flashed out after one of the two blue-haired girls, blasting right through her and causing her to vanish in a burst of silver light. Smiling at this expected development, Chrono redirected the beam toward the second girl... only to suddenly reverse the course and send it rushing towards the veil in the air he'd spotted.

It was perfect. She would assume that he had been targeting her second illusion until the last second, and most likely had been in the middle of preparing her own attack in the meantime. She'd be caught totally off-guard, and most likely knocked out or at least seriously damaged by the direct hit to come.

He continued thinking that right up until his spell rushed harmlessly through the veil, dispelling it to reveal nothing inside but empty air.

Chrono had only a few seconds before the silver-white chains snared him, pinning his arms to his sides, to realize that he'd made a very serious error. _A counter bind... __The shimmering in the air **was** an illusion, it just wasn't hiding anything_. _And while I was so 'cleverly' seeing through her 'trick'... she nailed me._

The other girl, the one he would have sworn was a second illusion, floated before him; a ball of silver light glowing in the tip of her staff. "Very good. Your skill at magical control and your tactical abilities are both excellent. However... it is possible to overthink things, don't you agree? Making the air shimmer is much easier than creating two perfect independent illusions of myself. Sometimes the simpler explanation is correct."

She raised her weapon, and released the ball of silver light gathered in her staff as a coherent beam aimed directly at the defenseless mage's heart.

* * *

Lindy just barely dodged the bolt of crackling death and struck back, S2U releasing a blast of coherent blue-green light at her command.

It was less than useless. Precia's automatic defenses repelled it without even the slightest effort, the bolt bouncing off a dissolving into flecks of light befeore Lindy's eyes. Not that Lindy had really been expecting it to work, but it would have been nice to be surprised in this case.

Precia let out a small, sharp, laugh, and swung her staff, sending a wide-angle wave of light after her target rather than a beam. With no way to dodge, Lindy was forced to try defending this time, and her shields... almost... held. For perhaps the fifth or sixth time, Lindy tumbled through the sky her nerves on fire as sickly lightning coursed through her body.

It was obvious to anyone who saw the situation that Precia was dominating the encounter. Lindy could not even harm her, and was equally helpless to repel her attacks. Precia honestly seemed to be mostly toying with the other woman, deliberately letting off attacks just slow enough to be dodged, just weak enough to be survivable. Playing with Lindy like a particularly sadistic cat with a a particularly durable mouse.

Precia shook her head in bemusement. "Really, now? Are you actually surprised? You attack me, alone, with offensive abilities that are… mediocre at best. What exactly were you expecting to happen, here?"

Lindy wiped blood and sweat from her brow as she considered this. "Well… something along the lines of…"

**Lindy-vision!:**

_Lindy arrived on the battlefield, looking frankly stunning considering she's actually given birth to a child. No, really, she was a total babe. How does she keep that figure? Looking around, she said, "Time to find Precia!"_

_And she found Precia, who wasn't nearly so pretty as Lindy. Lindy and Precia stared into each other's eyes. They were both Fate's mom, but only one of them was good, which made the coming battle symbolic. Maybe it was symbolic of motherhood, and how a real mother is the one who cares for the child, not the one who gives birth to her (or in this case, grows her in a cloning vat). Yeah, that sounded good._

_"I'm here to beat you," Lindy said._

_"You won't." Precia said._

_And then there was a fight and Lindy won._

_"Ha ha!" Lindy said._

_"Darn!" Precia said._

_And then Precia was arrested, and had to go to jail and wear a prison jumpsuit, which made her look even **less** attractive. So Lindy was the winner and also prettier by a lot. And she and Fate were mother and daughter forever and ate ice cream._

**Back to Reality!:**

"Something like that?" Lindy said. "I was really hoping for that, to tell you the truth."

Precia blinked a few times and raised her hand. "I'm going to murder you now." She said.

Lindy smiled once again, this time in victory. "I'm sure you'll try." She said.

"**Steel Bind." **The storage device said. A silvery-white binding chain snapped itself around Precia's staff and the arm that held it, binding the mage into place.

Precia blinked. It was a simple spell, shattering at the slightest effort of will. "What was the point of…?"

"Restrain, the judgment of those on high. Look down upon my foe and stave off her assaults." Lindy said.

"**Chain of Heaven."**

A much brighter chain burst into existence, wrapping around the woman's entire body and pinning her arms. And Lindy's chant continued without pause: "Hold back the darkness. Repel any who would seek to do me harm, seal them off from the world in an endless void..."

"**Prison of Silence."**

A sphere of translucent blue light joined the chains, further burying Precia in layer upon layer of binding spells. _Damn... even for me this will take some time to break_... Precia thought in annoyance as the magical prison grew steadily more complex. Clearly, she had underestimated this woman; her skills might not have lent themselves to combat, but she clearly knew sealing and binding very, very well. Still, it would only be a matter of a few minutes to escape this net and...

"Now, confine. Draw my enemy beyond time and space and lock them forever outside the flow of reality; trapped for eternity in an unchanging prison of glass." Lindy said, continuing the steadily growing bind without pause.

"**Crystal Seal." **The staff said, trapping Precia inside a faceted crystalline shell that appeared on the outer layer of the other binds that already held her. It had reached the point where the woman could no longer even be clearly seen with the naked eye.

Lindy smiled at her handiwork and levelled S2U. "That ought to hold you for a bit, I'd think. Now, how did this go? Gather, the light of justice that shines 'cross the heavens. I am the bringer of judgment upon this evil, and her guilt is clear and deserving of punishment. Scatter the darkness and let the criminal before me be bathed in the light of law, forevermore."

"**Eternity Breaker."**

The blast of pure white light screamed through the skies and smashed into the bound Precia, briefly obscuring her with the intensity of the beam. **  
**

The beam exploded violently, leaving behind a shockwave that ripped through the air and a cloud of smoke that left even the results of the blast impossible to see. But it was a breezy day, particularly at the altitudes that the battle was taking place at. The smoke cleared quickly, however, revealing that Precia…

Wasn't even scratched.

"Ouch. I believe you tousled my hair." The archmage said, a smug smile firmly on her lips and violet lightning dancing between her staff and her free hand.

"Not good..." Lindy muttered.

"Look on the bright side. I'll admit that was a fairly impressive bit of binding right there, even if the follow-through couldn't back it up. I've decided that you're worth taking seriously." The black and violet electricity grew rapidly in intensity, wrapping around Precia's body like a second skin. "You should be proud. Your death will be the sort of magical display people write books about."

The blast made anything else Precia had thrown the entire battle seem tiny and pointless. Dodging was impossible, and deflection was something _beyond _impossible.

Lindy stood unmoving, as certain death approached.

* * *

There were many kinds of battle to enjoy.

Fate was fun to fight because she was such a child. Susanoo felt almost like a proud parent, watching her grow and develop her potential before his eyes. And she was so unwilling to kill that he could easily match her effort and fight at the pace she set, so the battles tended to be more like an amusing little exhibition of spells and techniques than a real fight.

Signum had been fun too, for the opposite reason. She was a better than him, at least as he was now, and he'd been forced to fight with a brutality he usually preferred not to use just to keep up. Being pushed to his limits and beyond... that was amusing in a different way than 'mentoring' Fatie, but it was interesting all the same. She'd have been a worthy kill, no shame in ending that battle with blood. To do less would have been dishonorable.

But Vita might have been the best yet.

They were so perfectly matched it was almost creepy. He had more access to bombardment and assault magic, but it hardly mattered because she was faster than he was and would _not _allow him to leave melee range. And so the fight, as it had for most of it's duration, boiled down to 'hit each other really, really hard'. And it was _fun. _He didn't have to think, he didn't need any fancy plans or strategies, he didn't need to keep his eyes constantly moving because she could move faster than they could follow and might come at him from any angle. Not that all of those things weren't fun too; just that there was a great deal of joy to be found in a pure, simple test of strength, and Vita offered that quite well. Once again, he was having so, _so _much fun. He didn't miss his full power; worthy opponents were so much easier to find with the handicap!

Vita drew back, her hammer eating another pair of cartridges and shifting it's shape to one he hadn't seen before. Screaming **"Gigantform!**", Graf Eisen change into a weapon almost as large as it's wielder (not that this was too hard, but still).

Susanoo gathered power into his axe, preparing to utilize one of his favorite tactics, detonating a distance attack at point-blank when he impacted with the newly gigantic hammer. That should be a good gauge of its power; if she repelled him easily, he might have to shift to his own final drive. He hoped not; it would be hard not to kill her if he used it, and he had decided by this point that he didn't feel like doing that, even if Ammy wanted him to. He didn't really _need _to anyway, there weren't any more Gates to worry about, so if he left her alive for future rematches, who would even care?

The two warriors spent another few, painful seconds gather their power and sizing up the opposition, before charging in with wild abandon. Vita's face was set in a scowl, Susanoo's in a childish grin. They closed the distance between them in a fraction of a second, drawing back their weapons for the (most recent) titanic clash to come.

And then reality brutally intruded.

Susanoo watched in confusion, uncertain as to what had just happened. One moment, Vita had been charging him just like always, and he was rushing to meet her. The next, the air behind her was burning, and she was falling, and he was already swinging his weapon...

Her guard totally broken, Vita took the full force of the attack spell with only her armor to defend her. Briefly suspended by the energy tearing into her, she fell like a puppet with her strings cut, limp and lifeless.

He dove, catching the girl in his free arm, and moving to find someplace to set her down gently. As he did so, he saw the cause of why her charge had broken prematurely: the back of her armor had a hole burned cleanly through it, and the flesh beneath it didn't look much better. And there, floating in the sky, her weapon pointed in their general direction...

Amaterasu smiled at her handiwork, the tip of her spear still casting off red sparks. "You know, before we started facing these people, I'd never shot a small girl like this in the back. Now... twice in as many weeks. Times have changed, eh?"

Without a word, Susanoo descended, picking a building that looked pretty sturdy and setting Vita down on top of it. "You'll be okay, I think... your armor seems to have absorbed a decent chunk of the damage, and at least you're tougher than most. Try not to die, okay? I'll do my best to make sure this roof doesn't come under fire. If you can hear me at all, then signal your people for a withdrawal as soon as you're able to move."

And then he took off like a bullet, screaming to a halt in front of his elder sister. _"_**_What do you think you're doing?_**" he snarled.

"Winning, Susa."

"Dammit, Ammy, she was _mine! _How dare you inter-"

"Do not finish that sentence, pup." Amaterasu said coldly. "I'm doing what needs to be _done. _Tsuku's on her way right now, and we're moving on the last Gate as a unit. This is neither the time nor the place for you to goof off. Victory is all that matters."

"No. No, I'm not going to back down just because you're trying to be scary." Susanoo said, his tone calm, precise, and positively glacial. "This isn't a war. No formal hostilities have been declared. In a field like that, with an enemy fighting to the death, that's where your behavior belongs. This was a fair duel between knights, and you've sullied that. I'll ignore it for now, because we have a mission to complete. But I will _not _be letting this one slide, Amaterasu. When we get home... there are some things I need to say to you."

Amaterasu drew back her head as if bitten. _Oh, my. I haven't seen this mood in awhile. _With the frantic energy that he normally exuded, seeing Susa so calm and focused was... well, she wasn't the only one of her siblings who could be a little scary. When the smiles and goofiness stopped, that was when you really had to start watching Susa closely. When he seemed calm on the outside, that was actually a sign that he was _really _angry, and Susa really angry could be... difficult. _I'm lucky we **do **have a mission. Without our Master's orders to worry about, he might have actually attacked me._

She suppressed a shudder, and not entirely of fear. Seeing her brother with those icy eyes, so calm on the surface but a raging storm inside, barely able to restrain himself...

**_So _**_cute._

"I'll look forward to it." Amaterasu said truthfully. "But for now, _s_tay by my side and don't complain. We have incoming company, I know that, but Tsuku should be here soon, if nothing goes wrong... _and **gods, **_why did I just say that? 'If nothing goes wrong'. You'd think I'd have learned not to tempt fate by now..." Amaterasu sighed. "Let's go find Tsuku before something goes wrong."_  
_

**

* * *

**

Tsukuyomi's bolt was literally feet away from the target when something went wrong.

The bolt of pink light burned across her path, striking her own spell and blasting it aside before it struck. Instantly she spun to assume a defensive posture, knowing full well what she would see when she turned...

"Sorry about that." Nanoha said. "I didn't want to interrupt your fight, but I couldn't let you hurt my friend."

Tsukuyomi turned to the city to her back. The boy would not be breaking free without for at least a few minutes; all she had to do was briefly distract the girl and she should be able to get enough distance in order to get within striking distance of her final objective. But... if she wasn't able to get far enough away and Nanoha followed her too closely into the city, she could intercept the Driver before it reached the destination.

_And any battle between the two of us would cause considerable collateral damage. If we get caught up in a residential district...  
_

"Vacate the area. This is not a conflict you should be pursuing at this time." Tsukuyomi said.

"You tried to hurt my friend." Nanoha said softly.

"I told you: I have a mission to accomplish. Perhaps now you'll believe what I am willing to do in order to..."

"But that blast? I felt it's power when I deflected it. It wouldn't have killed him." Nanoha continued. "You could have used a lethal attack. Why didn't you?"

"I..." _I don't know. By all rights I should have; he is an enemy combatant and his death would have removed any possibility of him returning to the front before the end of the encounter. So why didn't I stop to make sure he was...? _"... there was no reason to. This is the final Gate we can target. Whether we get it or not, there won't be another one of these conflicts. Eliminating your unit is no longer a priority."

There. It was not exactly the truth, but it served as a plausible reason.

Nanoha smiled softly for the first time since her arrival. "You're still a bad liar." She said.

"Wh-what do you...?"

"You didn't kill my friend," Nanoha said. "Because you didn't want to. Because even though you were supposed to... you saw that you could get what you wanted without it, and you chose that option. The same reason you're trying to make sure that we don't start a battle in that city, isn't that right?"

The girl's smile widened. "I was right about you. You might have some rough edges, but you really are a good person deep down. You prove it a little more every time we meet."

"You... you..." Tsukuyomi said softly. "What is _wrong _with you? I just... I just can't understand how you think."

Nanoha smiled even more brilliantly. "That makes two of us, then, because I know there's a lot about you that I don't understand. But I think if we keep trying... maybe that will change. And so I'm going to keep going, even if you don't want me to."

Tsukuyomi blinked. "Then... if you're going to ignore my wishes... I'll ignore yours too." She said, raising her staff to signal the end of discussion.

"Well... that's one way to deepen our understanding." Nanoha said. "Chrono! Stay back, all right? This is between me and her."

Chrono looked down at the glowing chains he was still tightly wrapped in. "That won't be as much of a problem as you seem to think." He admitted.

* * *

Lindy smiled with a certain amount of evil at the incoming wave of guaranteed death, and raised her hand. A small blue image, almost like a playing card made of light, appeared in front of her palm. The wave of violet lightning slammed into it... and was somehow drawn in, vanishing utterly into the tiny projection. "Ah. Took awhile, but I believe I have you down, now. You're a tricky woman, you know."

Precia's eyes widened. "How... what did you... there is no possible way you could have deflected that much energy!"

"I didn't deflect it. It's just that it was the first spell I could completely steal. I got pieces of all of them, though... would you like to see?" Lindy asked.

She snapped her fingers, and the world went mad.

Spreading from the small 'light card' floating in front of Lindy, a dozen or more identical magical constructs shimmered into existence and spread to encircle Precia. As soon as their movement ceased, they began to practically _scream_ with magic; dark, twisting energy that leapt between the 'cards' in rapidly increasing intensity. The skies around Precia were a twisting, warped mass of blues, violets and black, lightning crackling through everything. And among the twisted space, strung between the cards like connect-the-dots, she could see… just barely…

Runes? A spell field?

She couldn't have possibly been planting sealing spells across the area for the entire battle. And yet, there they were, and what they were sealing was...

_Her _magic! Trapped among the sigils and flowing between the cards in an insanely complex and powerful field of magical seals, was an absolutely monstrous amount of Precia's own magical energy.

And to make matters far, far worse, it was visibly growing more and more unstable.

_I need to kill her, right now! _Precia thought in a panic, raising her staff and calling down a lightning bolt from the sky above. A powerful, fast spell that would easily have ended the woman's life... had it not sharply diverted its course, disappearing into the growing cloud of wild magic surrounding the archmage.

"Told you I had you figured out." Lindy said, dusting herself off and brushing some blood from her lips. "Now, since we have a little free time, let's talk. You seem to have underestimated me, Ms. Testarossa. Don't feel too bad; a lot of people do that. Apparently I give off the impression that I was granted an Admiralty for my sparkling personality rather than any sort of skill. Really, you'd think they'd look at Chrono and realize the flaws in that logic… he got his looks entirely from his father, but he must have inherited _something _from me, right?"

"The binds… and the shields, and the attacks…" Precia said, eyes widening in horror. "Every single one of them had a secondary spell built into them, just so you could build this without me noticing... how could you possibly…?"

"Oh, you really are a genius. Yes, that's exactly it." Lindy said warmly. "As for how it was possible... did you know my children think I have some huge, overreaching plan for this whole engagement? I keep telling them I don't, but they don't seem to believe me." Lindy continued almost conversationally. "I decided, just this once, to leave the big picture up to Admiral Mizetto_. _As for me, I spent a solid week doing nothing but thinking of a way to deal with _you._

_"_It was a conundrum, I admit. You've seen for yourself that I don't have much in the way of offense; I did my time as a field agent, but I was never the front-line attacker my children are. So I was forced to consider... how exactly does a mage like me, whose offensive potential is frankly barely notable in comparison to your ludicrous powers, stop you? Here's the answer I came up with. You see, you've made it apparent that you don't really remember me, but when it was time to seal your Garden of Time, I'm the one who melded with it and shut down its central power source."

Precia's stomach fell. _Of course. Of course. Of course. That voice...! Fate, the girl in white, everyone else present on the Garden was with me when the central core deactivated! There had to have been someone else, and... I heard that voice more than once...! _The Garden's Core had been a Lost Logia not unlike a Jewel Seed, but one that she'd personally programmed and painstakingly attuned to herself, to increase general research efficiency. She had... at the time it was sealed, her mind had not been all it could have been, but someone not in the group that confronted her had spoken to her as well, taken credit for sealing it. Her memories of those final moments were somewhat blurred but... but it was _the same voice. _If this woman had been able to pierce the security and seal the Garden of Time, then...

"A mage of your skill, this should tell you two things," Lindy said, continuing as if she had read Precia's mind, "First, I have had opportunity to study your magical style and signature in detail that few others have. Second, that my own magic is particularly adept at sealing and directing energy. Once I realized this, I then came up with a plan, and spent several _days _doing nothing but preparing the spells I would need to carry it out." Lindy said. Her smile vanished as she raised one hand, the energy surrounding Precia beginning to churn even more violently. "This field of wards has absorbed every last speck of magic you've used since I encountered you, and frankly you've released more energy in a few minutes than I could manage in an entire day. So much I can barely contain it, which is fine because I won't have to for very much longer. It will break free shortly whether I want it to or not... and with this much, about the only thing I can do is decide what direction it will travel in once it's released. It shouldn't take a genius to deduce which one I've chosen."

_Oh, no. _Precia thought numbly. She poured every ounce of power she could muster into her shields, knowing that if this woman was telling the truth it most likely wouldn't be nearly enough…

"At this point, I suppose I should be telling you something appropriately neutral and law enforcement-esque. But I've already used 'you're under arrest', and frankly speaking I'm not neutral toward you at all_**.**__" _Lindy said, raising one hand above her head. The runes in the air briefly gleamed, then began to dim. "Fate... did you see her, after your encounter? Did you look at that girl, broken in the dirt after what you did to her? Because _I_ did, I saw my little girl lying half-dead in a hospital bed, and I saw the burns on my son's body from when he tried to save her and you tried to kill him for it_. _What mother could possibly be _neutral _after that?" Lindy asked softly. "You tried to kill my _children_. Did you think I wouldn't take it _personally? _

_"**Burn." **_

Lindy's eyes were two chips of ice as she brought her raised hand down in a sharp chopping gesture.

The pillar of violet lightning split the heavens.

* * *

Fate and Arf descended on Rienne, ready for combat. "Mother!" Fate said, "I'm... here to... I'm..." She said, trailing off into silence from the sight in front of her.

"Holy _crap_." Arf said.

What they saw was Precia Testarossa... in a sense. She was on her hands and knees, on the ground, in the center of a massive expanse of shattered and burned earth. Blue runes floated serenely through the air around her in a sort of web, and she did not appear in any hurry to get up. Her dress was basically ash, her skin was reddened in the places it wasn't outright burned, and she was actually smoking or even on fire in spots. Basically, she looked as though she'd been at the center of a particularly precision bombing run.

Lindy turned to the two new arrivals and smiled warmly. It looked really, really _wrong _considering her own wounds and the general situation. "Oh, my, what a considerate daughter who comes to save me, even after I made it clear she should not. Thank you for coming to help me, dear, but it seems that I have the situation mostly wrapped up. If you could proceed to another battle site? I believe I have this one under control, so we should reinforce the battle sites closer to Ravenna."

Fate blinked a few times. "Um... but I should... M-mother..."

Arf tugged on Fate's cape. _Fate, I really, really don't think we should argue with her right now! _She thought urgently.

_Perhaps you have a point... _Fate admitted, once again looking at the crater Precia was lying in. Could she make one that big...?

_Remind me to _**_never _**_tick your mom off again. _Arf thought.

* * *

Signum was beginning to worry. She was finally catching up to Amaterasu, she could sense that even if she couldn't yet see the woman, but that appeared to be for the worst possible reason: Amaterasu wasn't running from her anymore. Worse, she had rendezvoused with her brother,and Signum had few illusions that she'd be able to defeat them both at once without help. And Vita was, disturbingly, not answering her telepathic summons. Zafira was, and he claimed to be pinned down but otherwise fine; Signum knew him well enough to detect the strain in his tone, but for the moment she had to take him at his word. For the moment, she contented herself with the knowledge that they were both still alive, even if the only way she knew Vita to be alive was that if she were not, Hayate would most likely be screaming in her mind right this moment. And if she wanted to keep them that way, she should deal with the problem as soon as she...

Something strange nipped at the edges of her consciousness. She extended her senses, searching for the source. Ah... someone new was approaching her intended targets at high speed. Was that Testarossa?

Wasn't she on medical leave? And if she was approaching this battle at less than her absolute best, then...

Signum desperately tried to wring any additional speed she could out of her flight before her former rival got herself killed.

* * *

Amaterasu sighed in annoyance. "Of course, another complication. Kitten's catching up, and I'm picking up two more incoming. Seems like they'll be here in... ooooooooh, animal girl! It's the cute animal girl! I was hoping to get to know her better, maybe this won't be so bad. How does my hair look?"

"What are you happy about? Isn't this just 'another complication'? Let's get this over with and meet up with Tsuku." Susanoo said.

"Ugh, still in a bad mood? That was five minutes ago, Susa. Live in the _now._" Amaterasu said. "Hey, look, the other one with her is your new little girlfriend! That ought to cheer you up, right?"

"... you don't touch that one." Susanoo said calmly. "You _don't. _I can forgive you for the last interruption, eventually. But this kid is so naive she makes _me _look like a ruthless psychopath, all right? So don't kill her. I'll stop you if you try."

"Ha! And here I thought I was just teasing you, Susa. I'm starting to think that you do have a thing for this..." Amaterasu began, before the girl in question pulled up to them far more quickly than she would have thought possible. Best to watch for that... and... oh, my, Arf was even cuter in person than in an image. And that outfit covered like, _nothing... _this merited a closer inspection...

Amaterasu found her... um... _tactical analysis _cut off slightly by the other girl speaking. "Susanoo... it's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it has, hasn't it? We didn't really see each other last time, at least not close enough to talk... Look, Fatie, I'm happy to see you again, but you should go. Things are getting more serious, here. When it was just those old soldiers I looked past it, but you're way too young to end up dead on some world you've never even heard of." He responded.

"I thought by now, you'd know me well enough to know I can't do that." Fate said gently, a tone contrasted sharply by the fact she immediately dropped into a combat stance, Arf backing her up. "We both have duty to perform, don't we? So you have to find your Gate, and I have to stop you. All we can do is what we have to."

"Oh, my..." Amaterasu said, now fully noticing Fate for the first time following this speech. The older woman seemed to have not really noticed her in favor of ogling Arf, but now her eyes were firmly glued to Fate and seemed to be analyzing her.

Fate was ready. She'd spoken to Nanoha. She knew she was about to get deluged with ideas for costumes that probably weren't, in her friend's words, 'entirely wholesome'. She could take it, she'd faced worse.

But instead, Amaterasu visibly blushed and turned away from her, muttering under her breath. "This... this isn't good. This isn't good at _all. _Susa, this is a really serious problem."

"What is? What's wrong?" Susanoo asked.

"I... gods I was just teasing you before, but... come on, is this girl _really _ten years old? That disturbingly sexy barrier jacket aside, isn't she a little too... a little too _much_ for a girl her age?" Amaterasu said bluntly. "I didn't really think you had a thing for her, but now that I actually see her up close, if you _do_ like her it's kinda hard for me to blame you, and that's really not good because she's obviously way too young! I mean, not just her clothes and her body but her hair, even her cute and quiet personality... it's like she was designed from the ground up specifically to appeal to perverts!"

"Wh-what?" Fate asked. _Specifically to appeal to..._

"It's... I don't know. I know I said I could support you, but I don't know if that's really true anymore now that it seems you might really go through with it!" Amaterasu said. "I mean... she's so...! Oh gods, I'm having dirty thoughts about her now. I shouldn't be, but I can't help it! Guilt, Susa! I'm feeling _guilty _for fantasizing about someone, and that hasn't happened since that time I fell for the High Priestess of the goddess of Chastity!"

Fate blushed candy-apple red. _W-w-w-w-what is she thinking about? _She thought, having a little trouble forming words at the moment.

"Oh, gods..." Susanoo said, looking ill. "Well, I guess one way to make me not angry at you is to make me disgusted at you instead."

"B-but... the things she's saying are actually... isn't that _really bad_, Susa? Like, isn't she talking about things that aren't... legal?" Fate asked.

The air instantly went dead silent.

"Fate..." Susanoo said softly. "Did you just call me...? You called me Susa. You did."

"Um... I guess so? Is that a problem? It just slipped out, I didn't mean to..."

"**_Ya-hoo-hoo!" _**Susanoo crowed, pumping his fist in the air, his foul mood apparently forgotten. "That means the master-apprentice bond is complete!"

Under normal circumstances, Fate would have been a little discomforted and annoyed by this sudden proclamation, but honestly at the moment it was sort of a relief. He was better to talk to than his sister. Much better. "Er... I guess I did call you by your nickname, but that doesn't mean I'm your..."

"No, no, it's good! I'm happy that you're coming out of your shell a little! I guess we can chalk it up to my brilliant teaching skills." He said, nodding in satisfaction. "Yeah, I'm awesome."

"You haven't really taught me anyth-"

"We'll need to do something special, something to commemorate this occasion. Hmmm... well... I know! Fatie is actually kind of a lousy nickname, you know? It's longer than your real name! So we'll do something about that, and think you up a better one! Fay? Fa? Argh, Fate is too hard to nickname for!"

"Well, then _don_'t, pl-"

"So let's go to Testarossa! Rossa? No... no, that sounds strangely like a man's nickname to me for some reason." Susanoo said mysteriously. "You need a girl's nickname. Like... erm... oh! I got it, I got it! Tess! You can be 'Tess'!"

"Erm... couldn't you just call me 'Fate'?" She asked, in mild exasperation.

Susanoo's face fell. "You... you don't like 'Tess'? I thought it was pretty."

_Oh. Now I feel like I kicked a puppy. _Fate thought. "Um... I suppose 'Tess' isn't bad."

"Yaaaaaaaaaay!" Susanoo cheered, again pumping a fist into the air enthusiastically. "Victory!"

"Oh _gods._" Amaterasu muttered. "They're... they're _cute together. _This just gets worse and worse."

Susanoo narrowed his eyes at her. "Do not project your perversions onto the pure and noble art of nicknaming. I just got back into a good mood and you're already ruining it."

"Right. Right. I have to accept this." Amaterasu said. "All right, Susa! For real this time, I will support your efforts! Good luck at finding love!"

"... ... ... and there goes my good mood. Being your brother is like a second job. A job where I have to pull out my own teeth." Susanoo grumbled.

"Finding..." Fate said. This again? "But you're... it's... nothing personal, you're very nice, but aren't you... really, _really _too old for me? Like... hundreds of years too old?"

"Gee, thanks, Tess. Thank you so much. You could have said 'aren't I really, really too young for you', but instead you chose to showcase my oldness. Thanks a ton." Susanoo said dryly.

Arf, who had basically been watching the show and wishing she'd had some popcorn, snickered.

Amaterasu sighed. "You have a pretty laugh, you know that? Like bells."

Arf blinked a few times in confusion. "Er... thanks?"

The edges of the time barrier chose this moment to explode briefly as a mass of magical energy slammed its way through them and into the slightly out-of-phase reality. Signum, sword drawn, entered the battlefield in the manner she entered most battlefields: ready to hurt somebody. More ready than usual, even. "**_You_.**" She growled upon seeing Amaterasu. "_**We're not finished yet**. _... Ah, hello Susanoo._"_

"Hiya!" He said, totally ignoring the general tone of the situation. He was good at that.

"Oh, this is a problem." Amaterasu said, looking back and forth from Arf to Signum. "I was sort of hoping you two would never meet each other."

Before you ask, yes, Ammy was _just _as good if not better at ignoring the general tone of the situation.

"Wh-what?" Arf asked, still not sure what was going on or why this woman was acting so weird. It is important to remember that Arf is, technically, younger than Fate. She couldn't fully be expected to understand why the woman had been looking at her body with the general air of a shark spotting blood in the water. Even if she, intellectually, realized that she was totally smoking hot, and occasionally even used that to her advantage, sometimes she didn't quite piece together that maybe her (again) smoking hotness was the reason someone was staring at her with unnerving intensity. She just enjoyed attention and didn't question it. It's a dog thing.

"Okay... look, Kitten. You know I love you."

"I know you're obsessed with me, yes." Signum said.

"Semantics. My point is, my affection is _real_. But the thing is, I'm just not a one-woman woman. I've lived for a _long_ time, and I've developed very cavalier attitudes towards romantic encounters. So you need to know right now, there will be other women. And men. And occasionally one of each at the same time, or two of one, or several of each in varying combinations, and of course you can be one of the women involved in any of those situations, and..."

"What she's trying to say is that she's sort of a whore." Susanoo said helpfully.

"I am not! Whores act like this for money. I'm in it for the thrill of the hunt." Amaterasu protested.

"... I suppose you have a point."

"Thank you for appreciating that distinction." Amaterasu said primly. "Okay, Kitten, I guess my real point here is that I plan to take that lovely animal girl as my lover at some point in the future. Can you accept that and move past it in our relationship?"

"_What_?" Arf gasped, just now catching on to the real 'point' of the 'conversation'.

"We don't _have _a relationship!" Signum snapped.

Amaterasu sighed and patted her brother on the shoulder. "You're not the only one who has love troubles, Susa. Be happy you only have one girl to worry about."

"I don't have any girls to worry about! Well, except for _you, _and that's not the good kind of worry!" Susanoo protested.

"_She _doesn't have any girls to worry about either!" Signum pointed out.

"A problem I'm trying to fix." Amaterasu agreed.

Fate, trying very, very hard not to show how _deeply _uncomfortable the entire situation had made her, raised a trembling hand. "Can... can we _please _just... arrest you now?"

Amaterasu sighed in annoyance. "Oh, right. Combat and such."

_This could be bad, Ammy. Tsuku checked in with me a bit ago._ Susanoo said. _She's in combat again, and not making much headway. I'm pretty exhausted, and it seems the last of our loaned Cyborgs have gone to the big scrap heap in the sky, however. I think Precia was here, but I haven't heard or felt anything from her in awhile._

"Ah. Well, if the situation is down to just the three of us, then we need to step it up, I guess." Amaterasu said. She closed her eyes. "All right then, I think we've played too much. Forgotten our mission. Susanoo, take point. Break through and go to Tsukuyomi, immediately."

"What about you?" He asked.

Amaterasu responded by exploding.

"Whoa!" Susanoo said as his sister's body suddenly burst into brilliant light and flame. When the sudden display cleared, her weapon had shifted into the jagged, multi-pronged monstrosity she'd been wielding during their first encounter, her Barrier Jacket shifted into the same red plate.

And more to the point, Signum noted, her eyes had that same, painfully familiar chill. The spot where Amaterasu had impaled her in their first battle throbbed. _Ah. ****__There's __the one I remember._

"Me? Well, I was thinking I might kill everybody in my field of vision." She swung her spear experimentally, and it threw off licks of flame. "For a start."

* * *

**Author's Note: Why, yes, I _am _leaving you on a cliffhanger. Again. **


	26. Enuma Elis

**Author's Note: This chapter is considerably longer than most. I just... couldn't bear to split it up. You'll see why.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 26: **_**Enûma Eliš**_

"Ah." Susanoo said, looking at his sister and nodding in understanding. "So that's how it is?"

Without another word he lunged forward, directly at Fate.

Fate raised Bardiche, prepared to settle the duel they'd fought twice before now, ready for…

…anything _except _what actually happened, which was: he flew right past her and grabbed onto the back of her collar, dragging her along behind him.

Amaterasu blinked in confusion. "Susa, what _are _you doing?" She asked.

"I said I wouldn't sit around while you killed a little kid! You're nuts if you think I'm leaving Tess anywhere near you, you lunatic!" Susanoo said, flying off at his top speed while dragging Fate behind him by her collar.

"Wh-what?" The horribly confused little kid in question said, not exactly certain what to make of this.

"Hey! Master-napping is forbidden!" Arf said, preparing to give chase… only to be intercepted by a jet of flame leaping across her flight path.

"Well… he's being an idiot, but I guess if he decreased my number of opponents by one, I shouldn't complain. Rather, Kitten will be troublesome even by herself, so I should thank him." Amaterasu said mildly. "But neither of you two are leaving my sight alive, so just forget about that girl and focus on your own necks."

Signum watched coldly, her weapon at the ready and her focus perfect. "I thought you said killing machines were boring?"

"They are. But then, I'm not trying to seduce _myself_." Amaterasu said.

"I wasn't trying to seduce you eith-"

"My _point _is that I don't terribly like this part of myself, but it has its uses. And besides, I can't get rid of it. The sun warms, and the sun burns. Life and death are both parts of me... if I removed one, I wouldn't be complete."

"Well… I suppose we have no reason for further discussion." Signum said.

Amaterasu smiled very, very slightly. "The only reason I discussed this much is because I like you. It's a shame I can't play more, but at the very least I'll make sure your death is a worthy one."

Signum nodded curtly. As odd as it sounded, she was actually far, far more comfortable with this; at least now the situation was back in territory she understood. "Testarossa's Familiar!"

"Er… yeah?" Arf asked, beginning to wonder if maybe she was a little out of her league with these two.

"Try not to get in my way."

"Wh- HEY! I can totally help!" Arf protested. "Don't just act like I'm some tagalong dog, I can..."

"_Try not to get in the way._" Signum and Amaterasu said in identical icy tones, neither of them actually bothering to look in Arf's direction.

"... ... sorry, ma'ams." Arf said meekly.

* * *

"_Wh-what are you doing?" _Fate snapped as she was forcibly dragged along. She tried to get away, but she had a pretty bad angle, and use of Bardiche in this particular situation could far-too-easily end in her hitting herself in the head while trying to attack her captor's… dragger's?... hand.

"Saving you!" Susanoo replied firmly. "You're not in top shape, right?"

Fate's eyes widened.

"Of course I noticed. You didn't even dodge me when I grabbed your cape." Susanoo said calmly. "I was planning to just provoke you into chasing after me by annoying you a little bit, I didn't think I'd actually get a grip! Your reflexes are all off, Tess. Ammy might be useless as a person but she is really, really good at combat, and she'll pick up on that weakness and she _will_ kill you. I'd prefer that not happen. You're just a kid, y'know? Plus, if you die we can never play again. So we'll go somewhere my crazy sister won't kill you, and you can kinda like... sit on a building and ponder the universe while I take care of business."

Fate responded to this by unhooking her cape and flipping in midair to face him down, Bardiche in hand.

Susanoo halted his flight, sighing in annoyance and dropping the now-Fateless cape. "Really, now? I swear... first it was trying to fight with a concussion. Then it was going all crazy on Pressie. And now you're actually trying to get into a real fight while your reaction time is all screwed up? Geez, having such a stupid apprentice really does make a lot more work for me..."

"Not your apprentice." Fate said. Then, with a small smile, she said, "And wouldn't my 'teacher' do the exact same thing?"

"... heh. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Okay, okay, you've got a point there, I'm not much good at picking up my own limits either. Guess we're both pretty dumb." He admitted. "Well, that's all right! Going one-on-one with you is always entertaining, and it has been awhile since we got the chance, right? I'll go a little easy on you, since you have a handicap."

Fate shook her head. "Don't underestimate me. You're not in perfect condition either; if you don't come at me with everything you've got, you'll lose."

"... ... ..." Susanoo stared at her silently for several seconds, eyes wide. "Damn, Tess, that was... pretty cool! Yeah, that was a great line, my teaching must really be paying off!"

Now it was Fate's turn to be briefly surprised. "Oh... um... well, it's not like I was trying to do anything special. It just seemed like the thing to say..."

"No, no, that's good! The best kind of awesomeness is the kind that just happens." Susanoo said. "I mean, intentional awesomeness generation is good, but it's _best _when it's natural."

"Um... thanks?"

"No, no, you deserve the praise!" Susanoo said. "Of course, now that you've asked so eloquently, I'm going all out on you. And you're probably going to get crushed. But hey: I'll leave you alive after your utter subjugation, and you'll definitely look cool while I stomp all over you!"

"... ... ..."

"You don't seem happy with this news." Susanoo said in a slightly confused tone.

* * *

_Something is wrong with her. _Tsukuyomi noted as she swatted aside a bolt of pink light and watched Nanoha Takamachi's shields nearly buckle under her counterstrike.

Tsukuyomi was better at fighting than Nanoha. She knew this; her spell library was more extensive, she was a better tactician, she was capable of greater ruthlessness. Nanoha had countered this fairly well in the past through a combination of superior raw power and a tendency to use strategies that no tactician, however skilled or unorthodox, would assume an opponent would use (by virtue of them being what she and her siblings' old tactics instructor had liked to call 'Totally Insane, why would you even _do _that Susanoo, you know not every idiot can just run out ahead of the army throwing off raw power like it's going out of style and come out of it alive!'. Big brother had been a... difficult student). But now, the girl's shields lacked vitality, her attacks had no bite to them, her movements were sluggish. She wasn't even drawing out those cartridges her weapon used to boost her obviously waning strength.

Had... had she _really _been so foolish to challenge Tsukuyomi, who had expended little energy and taken no wounds in the battle so far, with her tired body and overstretched magic? Was she _that _dedicated to her insane ideals? Or was this a trap of some kind?

There were two options, then. First, the girl was genuinely exhausted. In this case, her only real strategy was to try to survive Tsukuyomi's attacks as best she could and try to manipulate the battle to draw her enemy into a trap and ambush her with an attack using all of her remaining strength, to attempt a one-hit knockout with the last ounces of her power. Nothing else could bring her even a chance of victory at this point.

In the other event, she wanted Tsukuyomi to _think _she was trying to do that, and make the other girl fight cautiously and waste time attempting to chip her away from a distance. She could pretend to be weakened and tired, and then when her allies arrived strike in unison with them at full power.

Well, Tsukuyomi had a fairly simple counter for either of those plans. Her powers were near their peak, she had no need to run a tracking spell in the background and sap her mana, and she really shouldn't be fighting this girl at all, should she? So the right tactic was _not _to fight the girl. She could simply shift to her final drive, summon something large, and let that do the work for her.

The problem was that she didn't want to do that.

This girl confused her. Deeply. Her words and actions made no sense, and were often downright contradictory. Tsukuyomi wanted to eliminate this confusion, she wanted to feel _normal _again without constantly worrying what some idiot child who wanted to be her friend thought about every action she took. She wanted the girl to _stop_, and she thought that maybe defeating Nanoha Takamachi with her own two hands might finally impress upon the child that they were _enemies_. Perhaps Susa could find it in himself to make friends with every person who smacked him across the head with a blunt object, but Tsukuyomi had already let herself be corrupted enough by this girl's madness. She would _not _be subverted by this _child. _If the only way to get Nanoha Takamachi to make some sense was to forcibly _beat _sense into her, then that was what Tsukuyomi would do.

But... but that in itself would also be a subversion, wouldn't it? She would be putting her relationship with this girl ahead of her mission, even if in a way that led to the girl's defeat. She absolutely should _not _do so, then... yet the thought of doing otherwise made her feel even more confused. She _needed _to settle this matter, but she knew she _shouldn't _and... and...

She wished Susa were here. He understood such things, emotional matters and the like, much better than she did. He would know what she should do next. And more than that, on some primal level she simply wanted her big brother to stop the confusion by taking her in his arms and telling her everything would be all right. He would stroke her hair, and smile, and everything would make sense again because she would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would never let anything hurt her.

As soon as that realization crossed her mind, it was immediately followed by unimaginable annoyance.

_Stop._

_It. _

_What is wrong with me? I haven't thought anything like that since I was practically an infant. I am not some petulant child who needs her brother to coddle her. _

_Consider the situation logically. I am being emotionally compromised by the actions of one Nanoha Takamachi. She is confronting me in unfamiliar ways with unusual tenacity, and this is beginning to make me question things that should not be questioned and take actions that impede my general overall combat efficiency. _

_As a result, my mission effectiveness is diminished._

_As a result, my emotional state is unpredictable, and I feel things I should not feel._

_As a result, I am growing weaker by the minute as I lose the ability to act decisively and begin to more constantly doubt myself._

_As a result, my future value to my Master will continue to decrease for as long as Nanoha Takamachi is allowed to continue her actions. _

_In the short term, the greatest value to the mission would be to simply leave her behind and focus on the Gate activation. In the long term... before my mind is completely unbalanced by her attacks, I must remove her influence. _

**_"_Saber Form, set-up.**" Suijin said.

"Suijin, sharpen my blade. I need a killing edge."

"**Crescent Moon Dance." **The device said obediently, the weapon taking on silver aura to extend both range and cutting power.

Nanoha winced inwardly, but tried to keep the dismay off her face. This would make things difficult... she had been trying to preserve her few remaining cartridges, but she could _not _afford a melee battle right now.

She began to fly backwards as quickly as she could manage, loading one cartridge as she went. She hoped it would be enough to overcome the bone-deep fatigue that was sapping her spells of their usual kick...

"**Axel Shooter." **Raising Heart said, and to Nanoha's ears even the staff sounded tired. She chose a directable spell, because Tsuku was quick, and Nanoha could not risk the energy on an attack she could easily dodge. Small and fast was the order of the day, small and fast and...

Tsukuyomi simply charged through it, her silver-limned blade slashing the small bullets to pieces as they approached her.

The strategy was so _odd _that Nanoha was momentarily stunned. Had the girl been an illusion, or had some kind of shape-changing liquid shield or delayed bind or really anything _unforeseen, _that would have been one thing. After this long, the most unexpected tactic from her was the simplest one...

The silver sword slammed into Raising Heart, releasing a wave of light and force as the devices connected. Again. And again. Tsukuyomi showed no finesse, no skill, wielding the saber like a club in an attempt to simply _smash _Nanoha into submission.

And it was _working. _The energy blade was already cutting grooves into Raising Heart's shaft; if allowed to keep going too long the device would be cut in two. And more than that, Nanoha's muscles ached, her arms were going numb, and each hammer blow sent her closer and closer to the ground...

She caught the descending sword on her staff once more, wincing at the shock it sent up her arms, but withstanding it for the chance to turn the blade aside, knocking the other girl off balance. She couldn't even manage a reliable bind without another cartridge, but if she could get even a little bit of distance, then she could...

Tsukuyomi's hand clamped around her ankle. She pointed her staff frantically towards her own foot to release something, anything to just get free... and before she could do a single thing, Tsukuyomi flew downwards at her top speed, dragging Nanaoh along with her and slamming her into the pavement so hard it cracked. Through the pain, as the other girl brought her glowing blade around in a vicious arc that ripped Raising Heart from her stunned hands, Nanoha couldn't help but feel that perhaps she shouldn't have been stingy with her remaining cartridges...

Tsukuyomi stood over the defeated Bureau girl, her sword held to Nanoha Takamachi's throat.

_I must, _She repeated to herself, _Remove her influence. _She edged the blade closer._  
_

"Well?" Nanoha said, calmly despite her visible pain. "You win. I'm helpless. What now?"

"I..." Tsukuyomi began. She got out no other syllable.

"You could kill me. It would be easy. All you have to do it flick your wrist a little." Nanoha said, still with that same serene tone. "But do you want to?"

"My... mission is..."

"I didn't ask what your mission was." Nanoha said. Her tone did not change, her voice did not raise even the slightest bit. "I asked what _you _want to do. Do you do what you're _supposed _to do, or do you do the right thing?"

"I... stop it. _Stop it._" Tsukuyomi said, moving the blade closer. "I am a soldier."

"That doesn't mean you can't be a good person too, I think." Nanoha said. "Your brother has it down pretty well, though he's got some rough spots; I can forgive them since they mostly seem to revolve around you, and it's good to care for your family. But he understands that death isn't something that should just _happen_. That if you have any other choice, you should take it. I don't think you like killing people. I don't think you want to kill me. I just think you're used to not caring, and that's because... and I'm sorry to put it this way... you're a bit strange. I bet that most people, even the ones on your own side, don't ever bother to _try_ connecting with you. That makes it easier to only empathize with the few people who do, am I right? And it's good that you have a family who loves you, but when they're the only ones that _you _care about, it gets easier to view other people as... things. And when you do that, it's easier to make hurting them the first option instead of the last."

Tsukuyomi nearly lost her grip on her sword, her hand was shaking so hard. It was like the girl was staring into her mind...

"You don't have to, though." Nanoha said. "I'm not even asking you to surrender. Just... change yourself a little. Just leave me here and walk away. Not much, but enough. It's enough to prove what I've always thought; that you really are a good girl."

Nanoha Takamachi smiled. "I really think we could be friends."

Tsukuyomi stared in silence for several seconds. She looked so lost it made Nanoha's heart hurt just to look at her.

"I..." Tsukuyomi said. She moved her sword just a little bit further from Nanoha's throat. "Perhaps... perhaps you have a point. There is no need to..."

Before she could finish this sentence, a glowing green chain of light wrapped around her sword arm and pulled it, leaving her hanging in the air by her weapon hand.

"Stay away from her!" Yuuno shouted, a magical circle gleaming in his palm and projecting the bind that had snared the girl.

"Are you all right, Nanoha?" Chrono asked, floating beside him. "Scrya released me as soon as he found me, but it took us a bit of time to locate you, and..."

"No!" Nanoha said. "What are you _doing? _I was so _close!_"

The two boys blinked in obvious surprise at this reaction.

"But... but she had a sword to your throat." Yuuno said.

"We were actually _connecting!" _Nanoha protested. "She wasn't going to kill me! And now you might have ruined any chance I had of getting through to her!"

"Ugh, is she being weird again...?" Chrono muttered.

"Should... should I let the girl go...?" Yuuno asked.

"No!" Chrono snapped. "Look, despite Nanoha's... eccentricities... we are actually supposed to be arresting this girl. So hold her and..."

His sentence, however, was then interrupted by a sound that none of them had ever heard before. A deeply discomforting sound, to put it mildly.

Tsukuyomi was laughing.

Not laughing with genuine amusement; it was a soft, bitter chuckle of self-deprecation. "Ha, ha... I see. I see... so this is how weak I've become, then?" She said. "What... a disappointment. I really am... so disappointed in myself. Nanoha Takamachi, you are even more dangerous than I thought... or maybe I'm simply more foolish than I believed, to let your deceptions take root like this..."

"No! I wasn't trying to..." Nanoha began desperately. _It wasn't supposed to go like this, I was almost there...!_

"Suijin! We have a mission to accomplish, so let us remove these distractions."

"**Moon God's Raiment, break limit."** The sword said in response to its Master's call. The explosion of silver light as Tsukuyomi donned her armor shattered the binding around her arm, and she brought her her palms together sharply in front of her.

"Awaken, my servant. Attend me, and grant me your power, the Serpent God who reigns over the blackest depths..." She said, and as she incanted a summoning circle appeared in the air behind her.

A very, very large summoning circle.

**"Summoning: Ikuchi." **Suijin said, and the air rippled like a pond as a serpent, long, sleek, and scaled in resplendent blues and sea greens, slithered out of the six-pointed star and began to circle through the air, the world itself seeming to somehow flicker as it passed, as though it were swimming sleekly through clear water rather than the sky. It was... to be frank, beautiful.

It probably would have been far, far _more _beautiful, the three Bureau mages imagined, if the lovely, graceful snake had not been the thickness of a city bus and roughly triple the length.

Nanoha narrowed her eyes at her 'rescuers'. "This is all your fault, you know."

* * *

She was perfect, in a mechanical sort of way.

The dance was over, and Amaterasu was simply trying to kill anyone and anything that came near her. Her heavier armor was not slowing her in any appreciable way, and the spear in her hands was all brutally efficient lines; shifting easily in seconds from lightning-fast thrust to razor edged slash with not even enough time to breathe in between each new routine. She was nothing more nor less than a humanoid weapon, a being specialized wholly for murder.

As a result, Signum was _finally _unambiguously enjoying herself.

This was immeasurably better than the obnoxious flirtation; simple, easy-to-understand, 'this woman is trying to kill you so don't let her succeed' _combat. _This was her element, and she was taking to it like a fish in water, her blade moving so quickly and colliding so furiously with the other woman's spear that the shriek of metal-on-metal was a near-constant accompaniment to the battle.

She was probably outmatched, she realized. The other woman was her equal at the least; faster, nearly as strong, and able to predict her actions with eerie accuracy. Without the shifting, chaotic battlefield she'd created in the forest, she simply was no match in one-on-one melee; particularly now that Amaterasu was no longer playing around.

That was where Arf came in.

Signum might not have been good enough to win, but she was good enough that Amaterasu could not ignore her for even a heartbeat. And so she was consistently faced with the realization that a weakness in Signum's defenses would be blocked by a shield before she could pierce it, that a perfectly executed attack would be tripped up by a binding at precisely the wrong moment. Arf was a Familiar, and there was nothing she understood better than support. She would have preferred to be by Fate's side, but she could at least trust that Susanoo would not kill her mistress. He might have been, y'know, a bad guy, but he wasn't a _bad _bad guy.

This lunatic, however, clearly needed to be stopped. Fate liked Signum a lot, and Arf could not in good conscience leave the other woman alone here.

Unfortunately for Arf, this also meant that she was in Amaterasu's field of vision. The sun knight was not an idiot, and she realized quickly enough what would need to be done for this battle to end in her favor. It was time to deal with the snapping puppy at her heels... which meant getting the knight in pink off her for the moment it would take to cut down a familiar.

She sighed internally. This would be... tricky.

Amaterasu began to fall back, using distance jabs to keep Signum held back from her by the length of her longer weapon. But with each stab, she left a pause. A tiny, almost imperceptible hole in her defenses that would make it simple for Signum to close past her spear and slash at her chest, should she have split second reflexes.

Signum did not take it.

_Good girl. _Amaterasu said, watching as the sword-wielding knight ignored the obvious opening, staying at the length of Kagutsuchi's blade and choosing to fight the weapon rather than close on the wielder. Amaterasu fell back further, continuing to extend the length of her thrusts, and leaving just a tiny opening each time.

Signum stayed back, continuing to fight cautiously, staying within the field of the Familiar's defensive magics.

Amaterasu fell back, continuing to attack at the absolute limit of her range. She left just. A tiny. Opening. It was perfectly natural for holes in her offense to exist in these circumstances, as extended as her attacks were. And Signum had noticed. After the same flaw in the attack pattern came up one too many times, she was starting to wonder: was it really a feint? Had Amaterasu perhaps been wounded in their earlier matches and managed to hide it until now? The burning spear would not allow any enemies to close on her under normal circumstances, but if that small opening could be exploited...!

_Come, Kitten. You know it's your only way out..._

Amaterasu left the tiny, little opening one more time, and Signum lunged for her heart.

Amaterasu seemed to simply _flow _to one side, letting the point of Laevatein slip between her arm and chest, before clamping down on it. Then, in a single smooth motion she spun, hurling the other knight towards a nearby building and taking the opportunity to lunge for Arf. All she needed was a single stroke, no familiar was a match for her one-on...

Something red-hot slashed through her shoulder. She saw the chain-blade form of Laevatein flash through her field of vision, piercing her armor and the top of her shoulder and beginning to cut downward. With a muffled curse she wildly slashed at the snakelike blade with her own weapon, smashing it out of her new wound with brute force, judging the pain to be far better than letting that blade continue to saw down and losing an arm. She broke off her attack, favoring her wounded arm, and... an orange chain wrapped around her ankles as the familiar's binding took hold. Signum suddenly filled her field of vision, her blade burning brilliantly. As they had so many times before, their weapons connected and the flames reacted, the explosion filling the skies. But this time, the majority of the force impacted on Amaterasu, and she fell back, soot staining her face and serving to just barely disguise her new burns.

Amaterasu took several deep breaths, studying her foes. _... They planned this, didn't they? I thought I was luring her into a trap, but she saw through it from the beginning and set the Familiar up to bind me. Maybe even cushion her fall so she could get out of the throw more quickly. It's a bit of a pain in the neck, but I have to admit it was..._

"... Impressive. Very impressive. That Takamachi girl managed to surprise me once or twice, but she was insane. You, on the other hand... I really thought I had you completely figured out, Kitten." She said, smiling slightly and moving her hand to the wound in her shoulder. "I'm going to talk to my programmer and see if I can arrange to keep this scar. We'll call it a memento of the first time you really caught me off guard."

"Don't bother. I'm not all that interested in the thought of you running your fingers over it whenever you think of me or something insane like that." Signum said distastefully.

For just a second, the emotionless mask shattered to reveal annoyance. "Eeeeeeeeeeh! I am _surrounded _by people who are _no fun!_"

* * *

"Told you that you shoulda let me go easy on you!" Susanoo crowed, bringing Raijin down in an overhead chop. Blue lightning ran over Bardiche as Fate felt the impact run down her arms... and then down the rest of her body. And then her body itself began running down towards the ground as the force of the attack overpowered her flight spell and sent her into a freefall.

She managed to re-engage flight before impact with the pavement, allowing her to regain some maneuverability. That was good, because Susanoo had followed her down on controlled flight and made his follow-up attack in a big way. She tried to dodge, but did not quite make it out of the way in time and was pelted by chunks of flying concrete. Her barrier jacket absorbed the majority of the impact, but one large piece painfully impacted her left knee and was not completely repelled. The leg went numb from the impact point down.

Susanoo ripped his blade out of the crushed pavement. "Tess... seriously. Stop. This is isn't a fair match. I might be tired, but you're barely even yourself. Maybe you could fake it against lower-level opponents, but to someone who's actually in your weight class it's obvious you need another few days of rest, at the very least."

Fate's jaw tightened. "I didn't have a few days. My friends needed me."

He smiled a bit sadly. "Well... I guess I can't fault you for that. But still, I think your friends would want you to take care of yourself before you worry about them, y'know? You're important to them, just like they're important to you."

"I know that," Fate said, smiling herself in response. "That's why we're friends. I can move forward because I know they're supporting me, and I support them in return."

"Well... did you consider that maybe you should be supporting from the sidelines?" Susanoo asked. "Maybe you could like... cheer them on? Because if you were fighting anyone but me you'd be getting your ass kicked."

Fate frowned slightly. "I told you not..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, 'don't take it easy on me'." Susanoo said, rolling his eyes. "Look, you're all pale and sick looking. I'd feel guilty if I hurt you now. Please give up?"

Fate smiled. "Maybe _you_ could give up, if you feel so bad."

"HA! Oh, man, you _are _getting better!" Susanoo said with a huge grin. "Heh... you know, if you were eight or nine years older, Ammy might not be wrong?"

"Wh-wh-wh-wh..." Fate said, with graceful elegance.

_"Calm down._" He said dryly. "I said 'if you were older'. Despite what some people might think, I'm not actually into relationships that would get me arrested."

"Oh. Um... sorry."

"No, no, I don't mind. I love it when people assume I'm a pervert." He said, even _more _dryly if that were possible. Then he hefted his weapon. "Ah, well... back to the grind, then. You ready?"

Fate smiled. "I was actually ready awhile ago."

Eyes widening, Susanoo flew straight up as fast as he could, narrowly avoiding being smashed by a half-dozen golden arrows that struck at him from all angles, materializing far too quickly to be spontaneous...

_Delayed spell? Or silent incantation, or... ooooh, both? She must be paying attention to her brother! _He thought cheerfully. Even more, the golden arrows were turning to follow him from the convergence point they had stopped at previously, so that made it a delayed/silent/both _homing _spell. Fate's reflexes might be a bit off, but her powers were still top-notch! _Almost a shame I have to rough her up. Good kid!_

"Raijin! Let's make some noise and show Tess a real lightning storm, eh?"

"**Thunderclap!**"

The wave of blue lightning tore through the golden projectiles, shattering them. Of course, that wasn't the end of it, was it? Susanoo spun in midair, bringing his weapon into a guard position above himself as Fate descended, Haken blade slashing down.

The weapons locked, Fate trying futilely to bring her blade closer to her smirking opponent. This was bad... at melee range he had the advantage, and her muscles felt so heavy and slow after only a few exchanges...

"Not good, Tess." He said. "You caught me off-guard with that attack, but couldn't back it up in the end? Not a good sign..."

He wasn't wrong, she acknowledged silently, but it didn't mean she didn't have few tricks up her sleeve. THe first thing to do was break their weapon lock. If she couldn't push back, then use him as a base... she twisted her device against his, using it as a fulcrum and spinning along it to swing under his guard and kick him in the face with both feet. She fought the urge to smile at finally wiping that grin off his face... until she noticed that he was still grinning quite widely, and discovered _why _when he revealed he wasn't even stunned and used their proximity to drive his fist into her stomach. The air rushed out of her lungs, and she felt digestive acid bubbling up into her throat, and she desperately tried to get some distance, any distance, before...

He let her go, shaking his head with a bemused expression. "You _sure _you don't want to call it quits?"

Placing a protective hand across her pained midsection, Fate began to wonder if maybe he didn't have a point.

He blinked, suddenly, his head turning in an odd direction like a dog that had picked up a sound human ears couldn't detect. "Tsuku...?" He muttered. "Not good. Sorry, Tess, but Tsuku is... something's wrong. She's really discomforted, and more than that she called up one of her ocean gods to fight for her... if her situation is that bad, I really do need to get to her side. So I'm afraid I'll have to quit playing around and go through you after all. This is going to hurt a bit..."

* * *

Chrono scanned the ground for the serpent, and saw nothing.

One would think that a snake the size of a small train would be easier to keep an eye on, but trust that _girl _to not make things easy. The thing was a water snake, but apparently it didn't need an ocean to swim in; Chrono could just barely see the ripples it occasionally left as it 'swam' through the solid concrete beneath him as easily as if it were a mountain stream. Which made the damn thing hard to find, harder to hit, and generally speaking just incredibly obnoxious. Worse, it had drawn him away from Nanoha and Scrya... who knew how they were doing? Takamachi was exhausted, she was in no state to continue battling an opponent that dangerous, even with backup.

The serpent's head flowed smoothly from the side of nearby building and released a tight, focused beam from its open mouth that left Chrono frantically dodging to avoid having his head ripped off.

And that was the _other _reason it was annoying. The stupid thing just would _not _let him get a shot in. It kept moving through solid objects, emerging from strange places, shooting that annoying beam, and withdrawing. He was never going to be able to deal with it at this rate.

_Should have let Scrya fight the snake while I tried a rematch with the girl. She would never have gotten me twice..._

_Oh, who am I kidding? I'm being outsmarted by a snake._

The thing simply refused to fully emerge. That blast it fired from its mouth wasn't really anything special, but it didn't seem to run out of energy, and the creature itself seemed perfectly content with just emerging from unexpected surfaces and chipping away at Chrono from a distance. Presumably it was planning to eat him after he was unconscious.

He decided he really didn't want to be eaten, thank you very much. And more to the point, he did not want to be outwitted by a creature whose brain was probably the same size as his own despite the fact its head was bigger than his whole body. Well, he'd need to get it out of the ground first, so...

Oh. Oooooooh. Yes, that should work. It seemed only able to emerge from flat surfaces large enough to hold it, so it was pretty well limited to appearing from the ground or the sides of larger buildings, which was helpful. Limited the targets.

Chrono smiled, and gestured with Durandal at the largest building he could see. A Mid-style circle appeared on the surface of the structure that was most directly facing him. The serpent's head appeared from the ground behind him instead, grazing his shoulder when he couldn't dodge in time, but that was okay, he hadn't been expecting to catch it right away. He settled for casting another delayed spell at the area its head had popped out of. And then another, on another building. Another stretch of road. More and more, the snake kept striking from unexpected angles and Chrono continued to whittle down the number of options, because he was being smart now and keeping the fight confined to a small area, and _eventually..._

Chrono heard something hiss in rage and pain behind him, and knew he'd finally hit the jackpot. The snake thrashed out of the ground, the earth rippling where it passed, its jaws frozen shut. The creature's full bulk finally exited the ground, finally exposed. And with all those delayed spells lying around, it was fairly limited in where it could go back in. A mana-intensive strategy, perhaps, but it worked out in the end...

Chrono grinned at the creature thrashing about, trying to get the ice off its face. "Hello, target."

**

* * *

**

Precia glared at the other woman in undisguised hatred.

Lindy, for her part, looked bored. "It's hard to take you seriously when your hair is still smoking." She said.

_You... how dare you... _Precia thought. Well... not really 'thought', since she was no longer capable of coherency on that level. The black well of fury that constantly bubbled within her was boiling over like it only rarely had in the past. For starters, it just irritated her for this woman to be treating Fate like she was somehow Alicia's _equal_, like she was child instead of just some... _thing. _And of course, this woman had been involved in her fall at the Garden of Time, which was another major trigger for her.

But _this. _Combat might not have been her specialty, but she was still the great mage Precia Testarossa, famed and feared throughout civilized existence. She had made worlds tremble. And yet somehow, this... this _nothing _had reduced her to such a state! The Book of Darkness girl had been powered by an ancient Belkan artifact, and even Fate was, in a sense, simply riding on Precia's own coattails. Those setbacks, her pride had been able to take. But this. _This. _

_"I..."_Precia snarled_. "Will not. Be mocked. By the likes of **you!**_"

There was no subtlety to it. No strategy, no thought. Precia Testarossa simply screamed her fury, and the power came; unimaginable energy released from every pore. For the second time, an uncontained wave of wild, chaotic energy roared across the battlefield, only this time it was coming _from _Precia instead of at her. The skies darkened... not only with thunderclouds, but because the sun was simply outshone.

Once Precia was calm enough to see straight again, she smirked at Lindy, who had joined her smoking on the ground. The smile looked more like an animal baring its fangs than anything else.

"Any... more... smug... words?" Precia growled.

Lindy climbed painfully to her knees... and smiled. "Look up." she said.

Precia did so, and saw a rather large ball of violet lightning, contained within a ring of the same blue energy 'cards' that had left her in the condition she was currently in.

"You really don't make the best decisions when you lose your temper, do you?" Lindy asked. "Still, that was really horrifying power. I don't think I've ever seen your equal. I couldn't even catch most of it, it caught me so off-guard.

"_Most _of it."

"... ... ... I hate you." Precia said, raising her shields, as the ball of lightning began to churn, preparing for release... **

* * *

**

It was over, that much was clear.

Zafira fell to one knee, unable to move further. The cyborg was not undamaged, but... he was certainly in no condition to destroy it. Or even to save himself, if he was being honest. He could possibly hold out another few minutes, but...

It was over.

* * *

And on the _Asura, _Shamal was once again having to fight Hayate away from the teleportation center.

"You can't walk, Mistress!" Shamal said, forcibly holding the wheelchair back.

"I! Don't! Care!" Hayate said, trying to wheel forward futilely. "Zafira needs us! We need to get down there right now!"

"Miss Hayate." Admiral Mizetto said softly. "We will protect your famili..."

"My _Knight!_"

"Your knight. Do not worry." Mizetto said soothingly. "I just need to confirm something. Amy, child, could you please confirm something for me?"

"Yes, sir?" Amy asked cautiously.

"Sir Zafira is the last combatant engaged with one of the cybernetic organisms, correct?"

"Well... we assume so. The cyborgs are very difficult to pick up on sensors, even with our computers freed, but yes... according to all reports, other field agents are engaged with enemy mages, and the cyborgs have more-or-less been wiped out." Amy confirmed.

"Excellent. Then we will need to time this very carefully." Mizetto said. "Please call up the following personnel files; Adam Kyel, Beatrice Montblanc, and Carnellia Vera. In that order."

"Why are we looking up personnel files when my..." Hayate began.

"Hush, dear. Miss Amy, please?" Admiral Mizetto said.

"Um... okay, I..." Amy said, typing into her console rapidly. "... ... what the Hell?" She muttered.

The little hologram of Rein, hovering over the backup computer, opened its eyes. "Um... an encrypted signal was just sent out. I didn't authorize it, it just... went."

"It was a signal for the _Mercury _to commence operations under Commodore Bentz. A specially prepared field team to take the last Cyborg as intact as possible." Admiral Mizetto said calmly. "I felt reinforcements were prudent, and thus made some... preparations."

Talia Aston's jaw dropped. "You have a backdoor into the systems too. You overrode the corrupted programs?"

"I have been around for some time, dear. I picked up a few tricks. I'm the chief of staff, burying some helpful code into a few personnel files was not terribly difficult."

"Sir that is... shockingly illegal." Talia said softly.

"Fortunately, nobody knows about it." Mizetto said cheerfully.

"But you just..."

"Oh, did I not mention it only works once?" The elderly admiral said innocently. "I'm afraid you'll likely find that particular code will never function again, so I'm afraid there isn't a great deal of evidence, is there? And really, it's for a good cause."

"I don't care!" Hayate snapped. "Vita being wounded was bad enough, but at least I can tell she's not dying! Zafira...! Just tell me you're getting him some help!"

Admiral Mizetto smiled a bit like a wolf. "Of course. In case you forgot, we do have one other major goal here? These cyborgs recover their lost with disturbing ease. We are only going to have one shot at taking one of them intact, discovering their secrets.

"I have no intention of missing it."

* * *

One hand holding his stomach closed, the other turning aside a blade enough that it only just 'slashed' his throat instead of 'slashed it open', Zafira sprawled in the dirt and began to wonder if perhaps his estimate of a few minutes had been generous. His vision was blurred, he was dizzy from lost blood and blows to the head. His knees were weak, and it was getting harder and harder to force his body into a position to block those damn blades...

"I forget how this works. Do I say 'you're under arrest' before or after I crunch you?" Said a rather annoyingly loud voice. Like if Vita were a six-foot tall man. "Ah, screw it. You're not listening to me anyway. Boys, if you could hold it still?"

**"Time Web." **Said a dozen toneless electronic voices at once. The magic roared through the sky, so intense Zafira could feel it even with his body and mind as exhausted as they were. A binding web, the most intense one that Zafira had felt in a good long while, since the intricate web of magic that Aria and Lotte Lieze had used to bind he and his comrades at the Christmas Eve encounter, when the Book had gone mad.

"Hold it! Seal off any and all outside signals! We get one shot at the take down and one shot at the extraction!" The loud voice commanded again. "Judgement! I need a one-hit, if you please!"

"**Sniper Form!" **Screamed a... god, even his device sounded like Graf Eisen, only speaking English. Had Vita's brain been transplanted into a huge man's body? She had always been a giant man on the _inside _but...

"Hold him steady, lads. I need to pierce the power core, and then you extract him to the sealing chamber _on impact_, you hear? If we let them get it away from..."

"Sir, it's really struggling, so could you just kill it please!" Snapped an annoyed female voice. Zafira wondered exactly how many people had just showed up to watch him bleed.

"Right, right, right... three, two, one, and _mark!"_

Something black, cold, and very fast ripped through the air over Zafira's prone body. He heard the sound of metal tearing, wires sparking... and magic, the distinctive bell-ring of a teleport.

Someone huge and red-haired looked down on the Guardian Beast and smiled, his device, a massive black rifle, still in hand. "Well, boy, you did a good one. Sorry we used you as... well, bait, but we needed to get this done, we needed to wait until they got relaxed so they didn't figure us out, and we needed to get it on the first attempt. But you did a good one, you really did. We're one step closer to nailing those sneaky buggers because of you."

Zafira considered the gaping hole in his abdomen.

"You will... forgive me... if I do not cheer."

"... ... HA!" Commodore Taurus Bentz said cheerfully. "Good kid! Okay, boys and girls, we have what we came for, so how about we have some fun? Let's go show our troops in the field some support, see if we can't give Lindy and her too-serious kid a little support.

"Time to turn this baby around!"

* * *

In his control console, the Section Black overseer for this operation opened his eyes wide in shock. "What... what do you mean it can't withdraw? Self-destruct, then."

**"Signal Blocked. Transmission not received."**

_"... ... Not good. _Get me the Director, _now_."**  
**

* * *

Fate began to understand something, about then.

Although she had asked him not to, Susa had very much been holding back against her. In fact, he'd most likely been holding back against her to some degree every time they had fought.

He was not allowing her freedom to maneuver any longer, using the maze of interlocking buildings to counter her speed by forcing her to make constant high-speed course alterations while he just blasted through obstacles relentlessly. And when she tried to dodge him by going seamlessly through one window and out another of a high-rise... he had just gone _through _it, blasting a gaping hole through the structure and showering her with glass and concrete. Her armor was thin, and her auto-defenses could not stop it all, as the painful gash along her right thigh attested. Naturally, slowing her down even further...

Susanoo genuinely felt bad about this. Tess was a good kid, and really trying to hurt her like this was unpleasant. She was the sort of person you were supposed to have fun with, not the kind of person you went all-out on. Still, Tsukuyomi was in trouble... perhaps not physically, but her mind was in turmoil. She was his everything, the center of his universe, the one person he wanted to protect above all else; if she was sad, he would be there for her.

And if that meant being a little rough, so be it.

Still, despite her wounds and the unfavorable battlefield, Tess really was faster than him. It was hard to catch her, so slowing her down became paramount. He was no good at bindings, certainly not good enough to catch her, so he needed to restrict her movements some other way, and unfortunately the only one that came to mind would be a risk.

Eh. Well. Sometimes you needed to risk these things. Really, the streets were almost certainly clear.

Tess took a sharp turn, going down a blind alley, trying to lose him by leaving him more obstacles to smash through to get at her, slowing him down fractionally.

_Bad move, kiddo. _He thought, just a bit sadly. It had been a good _thought_, on her part, but it really just made his job easier.

Now he only needed to worry about people _inside_ the buildings, not any stragglers on the streets.

Rather than flying straight after her, he flew upwards, drew back, and sent an attack scything through the tiny space between the structures. The blast did not fit in the alley.

Quite intentionally.

Tess was fast, but she was not faster than lightning, and she didn't think to dodge an attack not aimed at her. And so when Susanoo's blast roared above and past her, ripping the sides of the two buildings to pieces and sending hundreds of pounds of metal, glass, and concrete raining down on her, she was caught quite off-guard.

Susanoo watched the falling debris for several long, silent seconds without breathing. He hadn't meant to kill her, but... _Come on, kid... your Barrier Jacket should have absorbed most of the impact, so..._

Fate flew out of the chaos, her hands in position to protect her face. She'd dodged... _dodged! HA! Amazing!... _most of it, but she was clearly not having a good day... and she was very, very open to an attack from above._  
_

_... I'm sorry. You were fun, Tess. _Susanoo thought sadly as he began his descent. He would try to knock her out, but putting her down was his major objective, and he would do it however he had to. He drew back his weapon, preparing to make the game-ending strike.

And then, from above _him,_ the hammer took him full on. Caught completely off-guard, he was carried helplessly on the massive weapon, pushed along its arc down to the ground and pounded right right in. Hard.

He struggled to his hands and knees, trying desperately to gather his wits and...

"_GIGANT CRUSHER!"_

The hammer came down again.

Susanoo was only able to raise his head, this time. He and Fate were looking in roughly comparable shock at a sight that _neither _had been expecting to see... Vita, in obvious agony, but conscious and flanked by a pair of armed field agents.

"Ha... reinforcements...?" Susanoo said in annoyance. "Damn... medics."

"You, stay down or I drop the hammer again." Vita snapped. "Testarossa! The cavalry's here and we're running clean-up. You're fast, right? Pick a hot zone and hop to it! I'll watch this guy."

"Y-yes ma'am!" Fate said. Seeing Vita like that, charred, bloody, and clearly in a foul mood, she didn't feel much like arguing with her.

* * *

Yuuno and Nanoha were not having a great time of things. It turned out that whatever Tsukuyomi's limits for her summonings were, she was able to call up far, far more snakes when she wasn't also trying to run a search program.

The mizuchi, eight of the monstrous blue-white serpents, were weaving a graceful dance in the air around the two mages, striking from all angles in attempts to find a hole in Yuuno's shields. And despite his best efforts, holes _were _emerging... had to protect Nanoha, in addition to himself after all. The girl was beginning to have trouble even staying in the air, and she absolutely refused to abandon the field.

And then Tsukuyomi had decided pinning them down wasn't good enough. It began with something neither of them understood. Her eyes widened, then closed in apparent sadness, and she said, "I'm sorry, Susa... if I hadn't been weak, perhaps this would be over by now. Well... it is time to atone.

"Serpent queen who reigns over the black marsh, attend me. My vassal, I call you forth to my aid."

"**Summoning: Kiyohime."**

This was the smallest summon yet, barely more than human-sized. From the waist up, it even looked like a woman, albeit one with no hair and yellow eyes and violet scales instead of skin. She was even pretty in a strange sort of way. It was only from the waist _down_ that the usual snake motif became more truly obvious.

"Milady..." The creature said, smiling softly as it wrapped its coils fondly around the small silver-armored girl. "It has been far too long. Your power sustained me, but I waited in darkness for so long and you never called on me..."

"I have been asleep." Tsukuyomi said. "Please stop touching me."

The serpent woman pouted. "As cold as ever, milady. Is your sister around? She was always fun. And so cuddly!"

Despite the severity of the situation, Nanoha could not help but think in minor despair, _Oh, God, there's two of them?_

"Later. For now, I need you to do something for me. Aid your cousins in dealing with these mages, won't you? I need to force the final Gate activation, and I can't afford distractions."

"I am ever at your service." Kiyohime purred. It sounded really, really strange coming from a snake.

Tsukuyomi took to the skies, spreading her arms wide and beginning to glow brilliantly with silver light, a wave of raw magic to force a partial activation of the Gate she knew to be somewhere nearby. In the meantime, Kiyohime raised one scaled hand in Yuuno's direction, and a black-tinged violet star appeared in it's palm.

_Nanoha! _He thought in great dismay, seeing black impurities begin to run through the emerald sphere he'd raised for defense. _That summon is a... a familiar, or some kind of a sentient magical beast, at least! Whatever the case, it's a mage and it's trying to dispel my defenses!_

_I have enough left... _Nanoha thought, and to Yuuno even her mental voice sounded very, very tired. _For one final attack. I think I can stop Tsukuyomi, or at least prevent her from finishing that magic, if you let me out of your defenses, okay? _

A snake collided violently with the crumbling shield, as if to emphasize the problems with this. _No way! If I lower the shield, you'll get ripped apart! I won't let you die, Nanoha!_

Nanoha smiled softly. _And I won't let myself die either, Yuuno. Trust me._

Yuuno considered his options. He could, possibly, interrupt the silver girl's final magic, but not if he had to repel all of those Mizuchi _and _stop the serpent-mage from ripping his shields down. Nanoha was offering to make him not have to. He could argue the point. Try to defend her, like he wanted to.

Or he could trust his friend.

_Go. I can't cover you. _He said, opening a hole in his defenses. Nanoha smiled fiercely and flew out, her weapon loading those last cartridges. One, final strike.

As he'd expected, the mizuchi went after her almost immediately. With them off his shields, he was able to counter Kiyohime easily enough, but he was still pinned down for all intents and purposes. Nanoha wasn't anywhere near her top speed, and he knew..._ knew_... that she wouldn't use her remaining power to defend herself. Nanoha Takamachi would accomplish what she had set out to do: stop the girl. No matter the cost...

The snakes closed in. She would not escape.

And then the air got much, much colder.

* * *

Chrono Harlaown looked down in satisfaction. The gigantic snake that had looked 'sort of' beautiful before now looked far, far more beautiful in his opinion. But then, he'd always been a fan of ice sculpture.

Leaving his new friend to sleep, Chrono took off at his best speed toward the site of the ongoing conflict. He'd gotten word of the reinforcement situation and was quite happy with it; Vita was back to limited effectiveness thanks to some excellent field medics, and a containment team was converging on the enemy unit commander. And now, all he had to do was assist in bringing down Tsukuyomi, which he was all to happy to try. He owed her one...

When he did come upon the site, he could have screamed in annoyance. _Nanoha! Trust that stupid girl to go all overboard! _He thought in exasperation as he watched her fly forward heedless of her own safety, pink light burning in her staff and a lot of very, very large snakes converging on her.

Well, she was lucky she had good friends, that's all he had to say. He raised his staff and took aim.

"**Stinger Blade: Arctic Shift._" _**Durandal intoned, a swarm of energy blades beginning to manifest in the air around him. He wouldn't have time to make as many as usual, but then, he only needed enough to keep ambitious snakes from eating his friend. He fired halfway through the usual sequence, aiming the blades in a hollow circle to simply cut down anything in the air around a center point; in this case, the 'point' being Nanoha. It worked like a charm... only one of the snakes saw the attack coming in time to turn back. The others were caught in the storm of magical bolts, and for extra fun the blades released freezing binds on impact, sending the creatures falling to earth helplessly encased.

Nanoha smiled. Her friends trusted her, and she trusted them right back.

"Raising Heart!" She shouted. "This is our last shot, so let's make it count! Excellion..."

**"..._ Buster_!" **The staff finished alongside its Master.

It was her final, final stroke. Fast enough to get off quickly, but powerful enough that no barrier Tsukuyomi could raise would stop it from this range. They'd done it, they had won...!

Tsukuyomi raised one hand, and in a silver flash, something _huge _appeared between her and the beam, only to disappear when Nanoha's spell detonated on impact.

_Wh... what was...? _Chrono wondered, looking at the smoke cloud. The answer came quickly enough... the Izuchi. The snake he had defeated, minus a lot of now shattered ice, falling unconscious from the blast zone.

_She summoned it again, from where I left it, to use as a shield! _Chrono cursed and raised his own staff, hopefully to get a shot off before Tsukuyomi...

In a wave of power that made his teeth throb, the silver girl finished her spell. Magic coursed through the city, permeating every crack, not harming but _seeking. _And what it sought was found all too quickly.

Tsukuyomi smiled very softly at the newly emerged dome of green light, literally less than a mile away, so close she could practically touch it. Had she been fighting with energy blasts instead of swords and summons, she probably would have found it by now! Even she almost chuckled at the unlikelihood of it all, but then she had reason to be in good spirits. She activated the Drive unit inside her staff, Kiyohime taking up position alongside her to intercept whatever might come. Not that it mattered, even if she was struck down now... she had _won_, in the end, despite everything_. Nanoha Takamachi... it is over, now._

"Dimension Driver, Serial #005, Command Execute."

Nanoha watched in dismay as the green gem streaked into the distance. She could barely even see, much less target it, and Chrono and Yuuno were pinned down...!

Tsukuyomi nodded in satisfaction as the green streak proceeded to its target. Nobody was fast enough to intercept n-

Why had a golden blur just connected with the Driver while it was still in motion?

Fate Testarossa came to a stop, her Sonic Form engaged... and the green gem clasped firmly in her hand.

_... Big brother, big sister, we have a problem. _Tsukuyomi thought blankly. _She... the Drive unit has been intercepted, and I find myself... somewhat surrounded. _

_Anyone... have any... suggestions? _Susanoo asked weakly.

_I could... _Tsukuyomi thought. _I could lower the barrier, and then summon something large and just let it... rampage. Attack people at random. They would have to... they would have to bring it under control, and we could use the chaos as a cover. _

Susanoo smiled softly, despite the pain. _No. You couldn't do that. I know you, and you couldn't do that. You may be... cold... but you're a good girl. You're a good knight. To slaughter those... who aren't even the enemy... even you wouldn't stoop to that level._

_I... I... I... _Tsukuyomi thought helplessly. _... what do you mean 'even me'?_

_My sisters are scary. _Susanoo thought, surprisingly cheerfully.

_What did I do? _Amaterasu asked indignantly.

_You qualify as scary just by being yourself. _Susanoo struggled back to his feet, using Raijin as a crutch and wiping the blood from his mouth with his free hand. "Ugh… all right, I guess I can try, at least. If I attack... like I'm willing to die, I might be able to take out Vita, anyway."

Vita smirked, not looking significantly more steady on her feet, but looking considerably more smug at the news that her side had just clinched victory. "You can try, but we both know it's over."

Tsukuyomi looked around her; Fate and Chrono taking aim, and Yuuno ready to intercept anything she tried... even with Kiyohime as backup, she was in a bad position, and her recent feats had left her running low on power.

"Please..." Nanoha said sadly. "Just stop."

* * *

Amaterasu, for her part, would have been quite happy to help her siblings... but Signum and Arf had been a tall order. Signum and Arf plus another field team? She was good. Maybe even the best. But she did indeed have her limits...

Her eyes constantly scanned the sky, trying in vain to keep track of all the many, many potential threats. With their being at least ten of them, and the two closest being enough to challenge her on their own, this was... difficult.

"You were a worthy opponent." Signum said. "But this is the end. Surrender or be brought down by force, it's your choice."

Amaterasu closed her eyes. _Your Majesty... I believe they have a point._

_

* * *

_

Enlil closed her eyes in sync with her general. _I understand. The situation is unsalvageable, then? Well, if the fourth activation is no longer in the realm of possibility, then I have no reason to wait any longer. Hold on a bit longer, and with any luck, things will begin looking much brighter._

"All right, then. Yggdrasil, I'm heading to the ritual site. Shift the Gates from collection to standby mode, and lock on to the beacons."

"**Of course, your majesty. Everything will be in perfect order by the time you begin the final spells."**

"Excellent. My knights have done more than their share of the work, I think... it's about time that I got to show off a little."

And as Yggdrasil prepared, Enlil began to walk. She didn't leave the palace; rather, she went underneath it, entering an elevator that descended deep into the planet's crust. It had to be somewhere in the mid-section of the crust, by necessity; higher and it would interfere with magical reactions on the surface; lower and it would begin to adversely affect sensitive mechanisms buried deeper in the world's structure. The Transfer Gates were like that.

Of course the throneworld had one; more than that, it had the _best _one... larger, more powerful, its AI far more advanced. This was the Master Control Gate, the central core of the system that acted as the guidepost for all the others. And now, after 200,000 years, it would finally have something to guide once more. It was active... not moving anything, just putting off as much energy as it safely could. There was a reason for that.

Enlil looked upon it and shuddered a little. She was one of a handful of people who understood what was going to happen next, but even she was nervous.

She cleared her mind, and took a deep breath to steady herself. In a way, this would be easier than the portals were; they needed to be constantly monitored and sustained so that they didn't close themselves or grow rapidly out of control. This ritual, once it really got started, would be self-sustaining. The problem was _getting _it started. The three Gates in unison provided an ample power source, but even the planned five had the potential for failure.

Yggdrasil would be doing most of the actual calculation; the spell was too complex for her mind, or even for an Intelligent Device. Only the world computer had the power to handle the full influx of data as the energy shifted, warped, and hopefully _created. _Enlil's duty was to act as a conduit for the world's power, which only the King or Queen could draw on in full. Even the guardian gods, beings born from this very power, could not use it to the degree she could. And for a spell of this magnitude, every last bit would be needed, and in fact might not be enough.

She merged her mind with the system, falling totally into the spell. Vaguely, she wondered what it would feel like, acting as a conduit for her full power directly into the forming dimension. Well, she routinely channeled energies most people could only idly dream of, so it couldn't be _that _much different, right?

_Oh. _She thought blankly as the first hints of the sensation hit her. _Well, that's nothing speci-_

_**OH. **_She thought as the rest of it came roaring in.

_**This is... this is incredible. This is beyond what I ever expected, this is beyond what I ever imagined, this is beyond what I ever DREAMED. I... Gods, I see it all. I'm everyone, I'm everything, I'm everywhere. **_

_**I can feel Earth's sun on my face.**_

_**I can smell the saltwater of a dead world's empty sea.**_

_**I can taste the frost of Dysval dancing on my tongue.**_

_**I can see Rienne, I can see my knights and they have never looked so TINY before. I can see every last one of the mages who oppose me. I can see that they don't UNDERSTAND, they don't realize how utterly insignificant they are. **_

_**Don't you people comprehend? Don't you understand what I am, what you're dealing with? You've already dared to build your tiny, laughable little kingdom upon the bones of greater nations, but now you have the temerity to try to prevent me from taking back what is rightfully mine, what my family spent centuries building and defending? You arrogant insects, do you have no shame to speak of? This is MY UNIVERSE and you should be ecstatic that I'm willing to let you continue LIVING in it! **_

_**And you wish to do battle with me? Why? Don't be fools. I am a good queen, I am a fair queen. All you need do is bend the knee to me and accept my guidance, and you can be at the heart of the glory to come. I can offer you more than you imagine, wealth and power beyond your wildest dreams, and all I ask in return is your loyalty. **_

_**But if instead you choose to defy me? If you wish to do battle with me? If this... pauper's army of children and broken puppets wishes to oppose me? Well, that's fine too. You don't have any idea what you're dealing with! I am everything! The foundations of the planets you walk on are my body, the currents of the Dimensional Seas are my breath, the stars in the skies are my eyes, and every time you look up at them you are looking into the face of something greater than anything your mind is capable of comprehending! **_

_**I'm not a god.**_

_**I AM WHAT A GOD PRAYS TO. **_

_**If you continue to offer me this pointless defiance, then I will show you absolutely no mercy. I will not merely destroy you, I will destroy the very IDEA of you, so that history will not even remember that you ever existed. I will look into your eyes and break your hearts and tear out your souls, and you will pass into your eternity in the 10,000 hells with the knowledge that you have no-one to blame for this but yourselves. **_

_**I. Am. I... **_

_**I...**_

_**I may have let the sensation **__go to my head for a moment there. _Enlil thought, struggling to get her thoughts back onto something resembling sanity.

"**Are you well, your Majesty? This is an untested ritual, if you need to rest..." **Yggdrasil asked.

_No, no. I'm fine._ _The energy is simply more volatile than I thought. Focus. Precision is needed here, not raw strength. There is more than enough power. I just need to guide it._

_The target zone is outlined, but the current has to be controlled. I need to focus the transfer of power directly into the planned reaction zone, and that means manipulating the currents in the dimensional seas until they converge. Force more and more energy into the center point, keep up the pressure, force the currents to compress down onto a single, tiny point..._

_

* * *

_

It was supposed to be over. They had the Lost Logia. Precia was contained and awaiting only someone to help Lindy finish the job. The cyborgs had been destroyed or captured. The three artificial mages were on their last legs and surrounded.

Admiral Mizetto had nearly allowed herself to relax before she remembered that of course, things could never possibly go _this _well.

Amy's eyes narrowed in concern at a sudden chiming on her console. "Um... sir? Remote sensor beacons left at previous sites are saying the three Gates under observation are all starting to rapidly intensify their energy output. That can't possibly be good, right?"

"I would assume not." Mizetto said softly. "Realign long-range sensors, see if we can get anymore details and we'll..."

And then Rein screamed.

"_Get us to real space, **now!**" _The little hologram wailed, her eyes wide with utter horror. "The currents are starting to shift past us! We're not in the reaction zone proper, but we're too close and the flow will increase dramatically once the ritual finishes taking shape! If we don't get out of the dimensional sea and into a stable Space/Time, we'll be drawn into the vortex!"

"What are you-" Amy began.

"Please, you have to believe me!" Rein said. "I can _feel _the magic gathering through the sensors! Something is forcibly altering the dimensional currents to one place, trying to compress the energy until existence cracks! And once that happens... I don't know for sure, but I know that reality is _screaming in agony _and we don't want to see why!"

"Just do it!" Hayate said firmly. "She wouldn't be saying this if it weren't important!"

Amy decided not to argue. "Realspace corridor open, beginning reemergence int-"

She very nearly finished the sentence before the first shockwaves hit. _Asura, _only half-complete with its transfer, was forcibly hurled into realspace with a bit more speed than the ship was actually meant to move at.

In a lot of ways, artificial gravity is very convenient. It doesn't pull you 'down', it pulls you 'towards the floor'. And so when, say, the ship flips completely over, you are still pulled by the gravity in the same direction. The ship is 'upside down', or at least inverted from what it was before, but you don't fall because as far as gravity is concerned you're still right-side up and you're still being pulled toward the floor of the ship, even though the floor is now technically above you. It's very convenient. Magic often is.

That said, even though you wouldn't fall it was still pretty easy to be thrown _sideways, _as all the people on the _Asura _who were not strapped into something discovered upon collision with the nearest wall, console, or person next to them.

"... ouch..." Was the general consensus of pretty much everybody except Hayate and Rein. Rein had no body, after all.

Hayate had her impact cushioned by Amy.

"Ouch..." Amy said.

* * *

_Has it started? _

_Yes. _

_Yes. _

**_YES._**

_It's started. The energy is gathered, and the reaction is beginning. Shockwaves are upsetting the incoming currents; divert more energy into the Gates. Have them continue pushing the current into the reaction no matter what. We need this to be **big. **_

**"The Gate on Dysval is at 63% capacity. The other two are fluctuating in the mid-fifties. They are meant for moving matter, not energy, and the strain of going so far against their function is burning them out, Master."**

_As anticipated. We knew we would get only one shot at this. Melt them to slag if you have to, that energy **must **be compressed. The fusion has to be fed..._

_

* * *

_

"Ladies, if you could please tell me what the Hell I'm looking at?" Admiral Mizetto said, looking at the currents of blue, red, and violet, normally so random, now uniformly flowing into a single, rapidly growing spot of bright white light. "God, are we seeing a dimensional tremor? Should we begin sealing operations, or..."

"First, given this energy we'd need half the fleet to manage a sealing and we don't have them." Amy said, wiping a thin stream of blood from her nose. She'd kinda landed on her face when the ship had briefly gone topsy-turvy. "Second, I don't think it's a tremor anyway."

"So... what?"

"Convergence. The energy will compress and collapse in on itself until something gives, resulting in a massive explosion of chaotic magic. The blast will split the currents, creating a space of relative calm." Rein said, her voice sounding more mature and calm than Hayate had ever heard it. Had a bigger piece of her predecessor ended up in the little device than she'd thought? "This is the creation of a new dimension."

Talia Aston raised an eyebrow. "Well... there's nothing in that area. A few stray ships that got caught in the current like we did are requesting aid, but it doesn't look like any habitable worlds are going to be affected much. So is this really such a problem?"

"Well, not normally. It's the birth of a new world, it _should_ be one of the most beautiful things ever." Rein admitted. "But this isn't natural. It's being forced, before its time. And at the center of it, there's something, so... cold. Wrong. Meister... this is really, really bad. I can feel it, even though I'm not seeing the current through the ship's eyes anymore."

Hayate wished Rein had a solid body, so she could hold her close and reassure her. "Shhhhh... don't worry, Rein. I know you're scared, but..."

"I have a reason to be, Meister..." Rein said, looking on the verge of tears. "A black wind is starting to howl through the currents. I can hear it, and it's wrong. I don't know how to describe it other than just _wrong_. I... Meister, I just can't stop thinking that something horrible is waking up..."

* * *

_It's almost there. I can feel it getting ready to burst... _Enlil... said? Thought? She could barely comprehend her surroundings well enough to tell. That divine arrogance from the beginning of the reaction was gone, now, replaced with bone-deep weariness and a certain level of confusion as she was trying to funnel everything that was happening out there through human senses. _Do you have the timing down? We'll have to be dead-on accurate. Even a second's delay could ruin the whole process._

**"I am incapable of making a timing error, Master."**

_**... **Point. Then let me know when the reaction has reached peak capacity. I'll make the opening on your mark. _

**"****Understood, Master. Analyzing reaction variables. Gate output at 21% and falling, Dimensional Fusion imminent. Shifting Gate cores into overclock mode. The Gates will be sacrificed to maintain reaction stability."**

_We can build more later._

"**My reasoning as well. Fusion imminent. The new dimension will be born within the next forty-two to fifty-three seconds. This gives you forty-two... I apologize, thirty-seven... seconds to complete the final spell. Are you...**"

_It is already complete, just tell me when to cast it_! Enlil snarled.

"**Very well. Open the portal, on my mark. Three... two... one...**

**"Mark**."

Enlil threw back her head and screamed openly. She wasn't sure if it was in pleasure or pain, but this last push was finally enough to send her over the edge completely...

* * *

The _Asura _was not the only ship watching the reaction intently. This one was not so pretty, however.

While the _Asura _was a brilliant, shining beacon of the Bureau's justice and vigilance, the _Hecate _was pretty much the exact opposite. Like most of Section Black's tools, it was a weapon of infiltration and assassination; stealth-armored, with engines dampened to reduce emissions and allow it to slip in and out of the dimensional sea largely undetected. Roughly half the size of a true cruiser, the _Hecate _carried minimal crew, a very, very excellent sensor package, and only one real weapon system: a functional Arc-en-Ciel whose barrel and power source accounted for nearly half the mass of the ship. Basically, the ship was deployed to slip undetected into a system, utterly destroy a specific target, and simply fade away. All told, it was possibly the most stunningly illegal ship in the entirety of Bureau space, but it did its job quite well.

Like now. Enlil had provided Section Black with the coordinates of her world's reemergence into the dimensional sea, and the _Hecate _was to take advantage of that lapse if at all possible. The card they had provided her for communication would double as a tracking beacon, if activated in the proper way. The orders given to the ten-man crew of the mostly automated stealth ship was to wait until the world had 'reappeared' (while logging as much data about the process involved as possible, hopefully for future use in reclaiming Void-lost artifacts)... then activating the tracking beacon and firing the Arc-en-Ciel at the location it appeared in, decapitating their 'allies' in one fell swoop.

None of the men on the bridge knew each other's names. Each was addressed by their position, and that was enough.

"Sensors, any new developments on that reaction?"

"None, Command. Matter and energy is continuing to flow into the center point; basically just the birth of a new dimension hyper-accelerated." Sensors said, continuing to observe the growing light on the screens as They must be using those teleportation devices to... I don't know, teleport the heads of the dimensional currents in a certain direction to change the entire flow? The science division will have to look at it later, we've got plenty of data for them to run through."

"Communications, last check."

"Our orders stand as given."

"Tactical?"

"Arc-en-Ciel, deploying the barrel. Ready to fire as soon as I have a target lock."

"Well, then, I think we can..."

"What the Hell?" Sensors muttered.

That got their attention.

This was not the first time this crew had taken _Hecate _on a mission. It didn't happen often, but they had worked together. They knew how to stay calm, cool, and collected. Outbursts like this were... rare.

"What's wrong?"

"Look. In the center of the reaction. It looks like in the middle of the light there's a... well, a dot."

"... a dot."

"A black dot. In the middle of a reaction of barely contained pure energy. That... there should not be impurities there. There really, really shouldn't. But..." Sensors said, his mind whirling.

"So... what do we detect from the... er... dot?"

"... the energy emanating from it is wholly different from anywhere else in the reaction. Different wavelengths, almost exactly opposite in fact. I'm not sure what to make of..."

And then the whole damn thing exploded.

The previous shockwaves that had emanated from the reaction were like gentle spring zephyrs in comparison to the hurricane of raw force that ripped through the dimensional sea as the blazing white light of the dimensional birth was consumed by the darkness. This new reaction sent waves of force that ripped through the dimensional boundaries, wreaking havoc on worlds 'near' (relatively speaking) the reaction zone as well. The _Hecate, _operating at what they had assumed to be a safe distance, discovered that they were in fact operating at no such thing, tossed about in the currents like a toy boat in a windswept ocean.

The reaction didn't stop, not even after nearly twenty minutes of the ship being hurled about relentlessly and extremely painfully. Even after the abused vessel was no longer being pushed viciously away from the reaction by wave after wave of raw energy, Command could still feel the turbulence vibrating the vessel without pause. They'd just been hurled far enough away that it wasn't ripping them to pieces anymore.

"S... s... sensors?" Command said.

"He's dead, sir. Restraints on his chair snapped, and he landed neck-first on my console." Navigation said. He didn't seem terribly upset by this.

"Fine. You're Sensors now. Tell me what I'm seeing." Command said frankly.

"Sir it..." the newly appointed sensor technician said, taking a seat at his new station. "... it looks like a storm."

"It's the dimensional sea. It always..."

"No, sir. I mean... it looks worse, now." the man said, bringing the image up on the screen.

There, amid the ordinary whirls of blues, purples, and reds... there was a gigantic, hideous black mass, like a tumor on the dimensional sea. A swirling, near-spherical wall of black that was shifting the currents around it outward with the raw power it exuded. At the center, a sickly gray light was just barely visible through the nearly-opaque wall of vile black energy.

"Oh." Command said. "And... our world is in the center of _that?"_

"No idea, sir; sensors can barely scratch the surface of the storm. I suppose that if the transfer worked as planned, it would pretty much have to be, though."

"And will the Arc-en-Ciel go through that?"

"Considering the relative energy involved in forcing dimensional currents off course, as that thing is doing... I'd have to say it would most likely be a bit like firing a squirt gun at a brick wall."

"... I see. Call the Director. It's possible we have a problem."

* * *

In his office, the Director, having only just heard minutes ago that one of the highly expensive and possibly traceable Black Cats had been captured, listened to this newest report.

"... ... ... this case has simply _not _been worth it. First that old fox Kuroobero, and now this..." He grumbled. "Call the Doctor. We might need his expertise after all. Ugh, I hate that man, but desperate times and all that."

* * *

Enlil fell onto her back, gasping in some combination of agony, exhaustion, and joy. "Yggdrasil..." She rasped.

"**Yes, my Master?"**

"Fetch me some water. And bring up a screen. To show me what's happening. On the surface." She said. Her throat was unbearably dry; even small bursts of speech hurt.

**"Of course, Master."**

As Enlil lay back in a puddle of rapidly cooling sweat, terribly uncomfortable and yet wholly satisfied, as she looked through the projected viewscreen at the sky. The formerly uniform wall of pure, inky blackness was now a violent tempest, currents visibly running through the darkness as the world rested in the eye of a dimensional hurricane. And through that storm... not often, but occasionally...

She could see just the tiniest hints of stars.

The new dimension had been created by the Gates forcing the energy to gather and react against natural laws. The portal she had opened in the center of the newly forming dimension had corrupted the birth, causing it to rip a chunk out of the Void as it completed. And the Master Gate, projecting energy on the same wavelength as the Gates responsible for the intial reaction, had acted as a magnet to ensure that the correct 'chunk' of Voidstuff was pulled in. Now all that was needed was to wait for the reaction to finish stabilizing, and they were free...

Enlil hated to admit it, but all had gone exactly as Precia had predicted. She supposed this meant she would have to give the horrid woman her daughter back at some point... she was, after all, a Queen. The trust of her servants was important to her, and Precia was her servant. Everyone in the universe was.

Yuuno Scrya's musings upon learning a bit of Imperial history had not been exactly right, you see. 'Infinite Empire' was not in fact a _boast, _no, they were not a civilization given to idle boasting. It was really more of a mission statement...

Enlil looked up at the barely visible flickering of occasional light on the other side of the tempest. _Hello, little worlds. _She thought.

_You haven't realized it yet, but I own you now._

* * *

The implications of the Gate reaction might have not been obvious to anyone outside of the Dimensional Sea, but the warriors battling on Rienne very quickly learned that something, somewhere, had irrevocably changed.

And not in their favor.

Nanoha watched, eyes wide, as Tsukuyomi's entire body, but especially her eyes and the tattoo on her forehead, took on a rapidly growing silver glow. She thought she could hear the ocean, and even smell salt on the air. "Aaaaaaaaah..." Tsukuyomi let out a soft gasp, somewhere in the middle of relief, surprise and pleasure.

Vita fell back and raised her hammer as Susanoo, barely able to stand, grew much steadier on his feet. His body was lined in a brilliant electric blue aura centered around the marking on his face, and the scent of ozone filled the air as though lightning had struck nearby. He smiled, blood staining his teeth red. "Awwwwwwwww_Right!_"

Amaterasu shuddered in obvious bliss, red light spreading from her forehead to wrap around her entire body like a second skin. The air around her shimmered like a desert at high noon, and Signum could feel the heat even through her own natural resistance to flames. "Oh my, yes."

The glow intensified, and then pulsed, like a heartbeat of energy that made the air throughout the ruined city seem to shiver in anticipation. Once. Twice. Three times.

The world shuddered. Power flooded the area, letting those with eyes to see understand that something had just fundamentally changed.

The Rebirth had truly begun. The clock was turning back two-hundred thousand years, to the time of chaos and forbidden magic, when the Empire of Infinity roared across the heavens... and the old, forgotten gods still held sway.

And now those gods were truly waking up, and finding that the long, slow sleep of death had not diminished them.._._

_Susanoo. Tsukuyomi. To my side. _Amaterasu thought, looking around her with a manic grin on her face, the red aura lining her body only growing brighter_. _

_Let's show these amateurs how we used to do it in the old days.  
_


	27. Divine Retribution

**Chapter 27: Divine Retribution  
**

It wasn't exactly telepathy.

As old power returned, so too did old, superior ways of getting things done, and so the three did not speak telepathically, exactly. Telepathy was too slow. This was less like speaking mind-to-mind and more like briefly sharing one mind among three bodies. Everything went much more quickly when you were just reading your own thoughts, and so it took less than a second for them to hold the following 'discussion':

Tsukuyomi sighed in annoyance. _Sister, please do not let this go to your head? Tell me... do you **really **feel like you're at your best? _

Amaterasu hesitated briefly. _... No. The transfer's not complete. It's more than it was, but we're not complete._

Susanoo sighed in even greater annoyance. _And weren't we specifically told to avoid wanton destruction and pointless death, dummy? We're only supposed to kill people 'interfering with the mission'. Well, the mission is complete, so there isn't anyone to kill!_

_Oh, come on! When did **you **become the responsible one? _Amaterasu whined. _Fine, fine! I shall take it a bit easy on the children! Fire is hard to maintain at a non-lethal level but for my lovely baby brother I shall make the **attempt. **And now if you two are done being all **negative **perhaps we could focus on the good things here? For starters, we have definitely experienced a major turning point in this confrontation, correct?  
_

Tsukuyomi fought down the rather foolish urge to grin at the rush of energy. _Well... yes. I believe we've jumped from perhaps twenty percent power to currently operating at somewhere between thirty and forty-five percent effectiveness, perhaps slightly higher. More to the point, the Star is shining again, so fatigue, I believe, will not be an issue. All told, not enough to call ourselves anything like fully combat ready..._

_But we're close enough to turn things around here_. Amaterasu finished. _All right then, we have three objectives: recover Lady Precia. Gather together and withdraw home as soon as Her Majesty calls us. And whilst we do these, pursue golden number three, my personal favorite: teach these arrogant little things a bit of a lesson. Who's in the worst situation?_

_My situation could potentially be difficult, but I believe I can extricate myself with some effort. There is the potential for failure, I will admit. _Tsukuyomi confessed.

_Vi's in bad shape and cannon fodder is cannon fodder, so I can get out of this in thirty seconds_.Susanoo thought cheerfully. _I'm good for helping whoever needs it._

_I can handle myself. Susa, I'd say break free, and then get to Tsuku or Precia. Whichever you prefer._

_... do I even really have to say it?_

_Not really. Precia has just become expendable, in any event. I'll save her if I can find the time, if not, she's not a major loss. _Amaterasu thought dismissively. _On the other hand, my precious baby sister should be saved. If you can pull that off, Susa, I'll be sure to give you a nice reward!_

_I don't want it. If it's coming from you and you're using that tone, it's a definite certainty that I don't want it.  
_

_No fun at all. _Amaterasu thought_. Now, just to make this official... the throneworld is returned to realspace, and as the highest-ranking officer in active service, I am officially declaring the reestablishment of the Infinite Empire and all territorial claims held by same. Thus, the Time-Space Administration Bureau is an organization operating in sovereign Imperial territory without royal seal of approval, and their authority in any civil or military matter is not to be recognized as valid by any agent in service of the Twilight Throne. They are, until such orders are countermanded by a higher authority, to be considered a criminal element._

_Because Susa is squeamish, we shall avoid rampant use of lethal force. But that doesn't mean we cannot **break** them. Go to work, dear hearts._

_**Don't call us that**. _Replied two separate but perfectly unified mental voices._  
_

And then they left the world in their heads, and the _real_ world got noticeably more violent.

_

* * *

_

Susanoo looked up at Vita and smiled, power rolling off him in waves. The red knight dropped into a combat stance, not liking this _at all_. How exactly had he gone from barely able to walk to nearly as powerful as he'd been at the beginning of the battle? It made no_ sense_. And yet the evidence was clearly visible before her.

Susanoo stretched his limbs a few times, prompting a series of soft 'cracking sounds from his neck and shoulders. "Owwww... not a bad hammer you've got there, Vi. I_ felt_ that one, that's for sure! But we're going to have to call it a day, I guess. This fight's won, time to start packing up."

Vita's eyes narrowed at that one. She wasn't sure what was going on, but like _hell _he was brushing her off. "_Won? _That's a hell of a claim for someone who just peeled himself off the street!"

"Heh... yeah, but that doesn't mean it's not true." Susanoo said, quite happily. "Don't get me wrong, you're pretty tough, but... well, medic or no, you're on shaky ground. And I'm feeling _great."_

"Won't know until we try." Vita said, a Belkan sigil igniting around her feet as she gathered her power. _Okay, you two stay back and support me. I don't know what's going on here, but if we play this smart we can..._

"Then I guess we won't know." Susanoo said, stabbing Raijin into the ground, an electric blue aura exploding around him. "Armor me, Raijin. Enhancement phase one."

"**Thunder Spirit!" **The axe said obediently, the aura around Susanoo growing less wild, contracting to wreathe him in the enhancement spell. He leaped forward, passing Vita's shocked support units before they could begin to mount any kind of defense and bringing his glowing weapon slamming down on Graf Eisen like a guillotine. Vita's own eyes filled with shock as well; the blow wasn't 'as strong as he had been', it was worse than anything she'd been hit with in a good long time, and from such a simple strike...

"You're not bad, Vi." He said calmly, the smile on his face a subtle smirk that did not truly suit his boisterous personality. It was honestly somewhat chilling, Vita had to admit. "But I'm afraid that as you are now, you haven't any chance of breaking me."

"Wh-what...?" Vita asked.

"The endgame just began," He said. "And I won't lie... life might have just gotten a little boring, but damn if it doesn't feel good!"

With a laugh and a burst of power, he swung his weapon downward, slamming through her guard with sheer force that he shouldn't have been able to manage. She went straight down, her flight overpowered by the strike and sending her hurtling uncontrollably at the ground. She braced for impact...

And landed softly on a multi-layered barrier that appeared between her and the street, halting her fall. The two armed agents who had come with her hovered at her sides, flanking her, their storage devices at the ready. "Are you all right, ma'am?" One asked.

"You two need to stay back." Vita said. "I don't know what's going on, but something really, really isn't right here...!"

"No. It's really _right _for the first time in awhile." Susanoo smiled down at the three, the six-pointed star that signaled his spellcasting appearing around him. "See, I haven't really been able to show off with only the limited pool of energy I've had to draw on until now. My fighting style is... not very subtle. I know a _ton _of spells that just require lots and lots of power and nothing else. Like, say... this one.

"Give me wings, Raijin. Enhancement phase two."

**"Thunder Spirit: Storm Rider."**

"Hee, hee... haven't used this one in awhile. It's not a spell you can use with human power, after all..." The boy said, the aura around him intensifying, arcs of electricity leaping from it to snap at the ground, striking up tiny puffs of smoke as it scorched the pavement. No, no it was more like he had actually _become _lightning, in a strange way... his body was still physical, or at least Vita thought it was, but he... something about the way he carried himself... "You should be proud, really. To push us as far as you have, you've done incredibly well. I really like all of you kids. But all good things must come to an end, eh? As fun as you might be... you're still only mortals trespassing in the realm of the divine.

"Let's ride, Raijin."

There was a blur of motion, a crack of thunder, and to Vita's great dismay he was simply _gone_.

_Holy crap! _Vita thought, eyes wide as she finally managed to catch sight of what exactly had just occurred. That had been... _damn, _Testarossa in her Sonic Form could manage faster, but she'd be damned if she knew anyone else who could. And he'd been average at best before, just what kind of power did that enhancement _have?_

_What the Hell is going on?_

Roaring toward his sister's location at just barely less than supersonic speeds, Susanoo smiled. Life had just gotten boring again, but for the moment it was too much of a rush to really be unhappy.

* * *

Tsukuyomi analyzed her rapidly growing combat options, a very slight smile curving her lips.

Nanoha knew her best. She realized first that something had just gone horribly, horribly wrong. _Fate! Yuuno! Chrono! Get back_, _n-_

Tsukuyomi clapped her hands together, the gems on her gauntlets glowing. **"Recovery**_**."**_

At her feet, the giant serpent that had given Chrono fits for so long stirred and took to the sky, bringing the fight back to a slightly worrisome three-on-three.

"Don't worry," Chrono said. "I took that thing down once, I can do it again. Just worry about the other two, and..."

"**Summoning: Nozuchi."**

"... ... ... wait, what?" Chrono said as a silver star opened in the air, and a _second _graceful, beautiful, and bloody huge snake joined the first in their dance through the sky.

"That's bad, isn't it?" Yuuno asked.

Chrono chose not to dignify this with a response.

"Hunt. Kill. There's something I need to take care of on my own." Tsukuyomi said, her gaze turning towards Nanoha. It was past time to settle this, once and for all.

Obviously, Yuuno and Chrono had issues with this. But considering that one of the twin snakes (Chrono didn't know for _sure_ it was the one that he'd frozen, but he suspected) turned and released a bolt of incandescent light at Chrono's face and the other decided Yuuno looked like an awful lot like food, they were not immediately able to involve themselves.

Fate, however, was. Her vision was blurred, and her body felt like lead, but in Sonic Form she was still the fastest thing in the skies and she would _not _allow this girl to harm her friend. Haken Blade set, she descended on the silver girl...

And nearly got her head taken off.

"Vector Arrow!" A feminine voice shouted. Bolt of violet-black light, not individually powerful but numbering in the dozens, snapped around her from behind. They did not strike directly but curved outward in an arc and then shot back together at a single point, seeking to trap Fate in a cage of energy. She twisted in midair, swinging her scythe around to shatter some of the missiles and escape before the net could stabilize itself, but it had served its purpose. Tsukuyomi's path to Nanoha was cleared.

Fate, her expression somewhere between angry and terrified, turned to the violet snake woman who had intercepted her.

The creature smirked, winking at her. "Aw, did I upset you? Sorry. You're a little cutie, but I can't let anybody harm my adorable Mistress, can I? You can play with me instead."

"I don't have time for this...!" Fate growled.

"You can make it." Kiyohime purred, violet light springing to existence in her palm.

Nanoha was alone. She could barely fly. She certainly couldn't fight.

Tsukuyomi floated, simply staring at her for several long seconds. The battle in the sky around them was barely audible over the silence between the two girls.

"Please..." Nanoha began softly.

Nanoha got no further than that, as Tsukuyomi burst forward in a blur of motion and an impossibly strong hand clamped onto her throat. The girl couldn't even gasp, her hands futilely trying to pry the vicelike grip free.

"No more words from you." Tsukuyomi whispered, her hand slowly tightening.

It was for the mission. This girl was manipulative and highly skilled at such. She was able to easily interfere with Tsukuyomi's thought processes, and thus her existence impeded mission performance in this and all future operations for as long as she was allowed to continue her blatant deceptions. Such an obvious threat simply had to be terminated, whatever Susa might say. That was the best way. Efficient, logical.

Cold.

"No more words..."

* * *

Amaterasu's smile was different than usual, Signum couldn't help but notice.

She smiled a lot, of course, but it tended to be either a wild, 'life is good' grin, or a small, almost imperceptible expression of amusement as she prepared to stab you repeatedly in the face with spears. She'd never looked quite this _smug _before.

"Oh, my. How interesting... just look at all of the admirers I've collected!" She said cheerfully, no longer looking in a terribly cold mood and very obviously no longer worried. "I'm afraid this just won't do. I can handle a lot, but this many handsome young gentlemen and lovely ladies at once is simply too much for even me. Still, you're all _so brave _to share your feelings with me so freely. I really admire that courage, I really do. So how about this? I'll make sure you all have a very memorable day, will that help?"

Signum's eyes widened. _"_Everyone!" She shouted. "_Get back!"_

Amaterasu held her spear perpendicular to the ground_, _a massive crimson star bursting into existence in the sky above her. "Burn, Kagutsuchi. Reduce creation to smoldering ashes."

**"Hellfire Storm."** The device intoned. A pillar of light shot forth from the woman in red, striking the red star. Which, of course, promptly exploded.

Not a coherent bolt, but a storm of smaller fireballs; 'small' being a relative term, for each was nearly the size of a person and there were _dozens _of them. The flames rained down, striking up pyres where they struck even on bare concrete. Glass and metal flowed like water as buildings were not so much 'set ablaze' as simply 'annihilated', the heat bringing them almost instantaneously from ignition to melting point.

_This is bad_. Signum thought. Arf and her other back-ups were having enough trouble keeping alive between the actual flames falling like raindrops and the impossibly searing ambient heat eating away at their shields and barrier jackets. Signum was the only one with enough natural flame resistance to mount any sort of real offensive during this onslaught, and she… she was…

_Afraid. _

_I'm afraid. _She thought, the realization bringing a deep shock along with the icy tinge of fear running down her spine. Amaterasu had been at the upper limits of her ability to handle before. Now? Something had clearly changed. _If I go in there and face her one-on-one… the odds of me not coming back are significant._

The first armed agent to take a direct hit went down screaming, his barrier jacket burning as though the magical armor were only simple cloth.

_It doesn't matter. My life for others is a fair trade. _She thought. If she was going to die, it would be as a knight.

She drew back her arm, Laevatein loading a pair of cartridges. The flames the lined the blade seemed pale things in comparison to the continuing rain of fire around her, but they would have to do. "Laevatein... this may not end well for us. Are you prepared for the worst?"

"**Jawohl!"**

Signum smiled slightly. "As it should be, old friend. As we've always done. No regrets, hold nothing back.

"_Karyu Issen._"

She snapped the blade forward, a single smooth motion. It extended, whirling madly, a tornado of flame and steel that tore through the burning rain towards the woman in it centerpoint. Amaterasu was fast enough to dodge it, but a spell as devastating as this one had to require concentration to sustain. If she could even make the woman move, that might very well be enough to begin a counterattack.

Amaterasu shifted her spear in front of her, still perpendicular to the ground. Signum's attack collided with the raised weapon... and stopped dead.

Signum began to realize at this point that things were perhaps even worse than her instincts had been telling her. That was one of her better attack techniques, and the chain blade was futilely screaming with its inability to so much as disturb the other woman's flight.

"Silly girl. I understand that you're jealous of me showing attention to others, but didn't I warn you? You're just not enough to satisfy me all by yourself." Amaterasu purred. "Though you _are _yummy, in more ways than one..."

**"Sun Eater."**

Laevatein, disturbingly enough, _screamed_.

But the toneless electronic shriek of her blade was not the thing that made Signum's eyes widen in shock and not a little fear. Rather it was the sight of the violet-pink flame that lined her blade flowing like water off of her weapon and vanishing into the crimson spear held by her enemy, making the glow around the halberd intensify. Amaterasu was quite literally feeding on her fire!

She snapped her weapon back, withdrawing the chain blade into a sword once more. Signum considered briefly, as the Device did not call its mode shift, that the weapon had been damaged by the strange energy drain... but she had little chance to worry about it.

Amaterasu drew her weapon back, the aura of crimson light around her building to an intensity that was difficult to look at. The spear itself was no longer even red, the glow around it shifting into white-hot. "You put up a good fight, Kitten, you really did. But when a mortal attacks an angry goddess, she can't complain if she's reduced to ashes for her sins."

And then the sun fell from the sky...

**

* * *

**Calling it a race to reach Nanoha belied the seriousness of the situation, but it was still rather accurate.

The girl in white could barely stand under her own power, much less break Tsukuyomi's iron grip. Her Barrier Jacket's defensive field fortified her body to a certain extent, but at the moment the only question was whether her air supply gave out before her throat was crushed, or after.

Fate had the advantage in speed, naturally, but she also had the most troublesome opponent. Kiyohime seemed a fairly standard familiar in terms of power, and this meant she had a familiar's full range of _support _magic; bindings and barriers uniquely suited for stalling as much as possible.

Yuuno was probably the second-best option, and in truth his own magic skillset was probably best-suited for harrying Tsukuyomi and drawing her away from Nanoha without getting the trapped girl caught in a crossfire. Unfortunately, he was actually _in the mouth _of a giant damn snake, maintaining a spherical barrier around himself to avoid being crushed and eaten. This, understandably, made things kind of rough on him.

Chrono, for his part, was getting on the tired side. He'd wasted a _lot _of power bringing this serpent to heel the first time, and now it was angry at him. Defeating it, or even getting away from it, was looking less and less likely.

But there was no doubt in any of their minds. Nanoha was dying, and they _would _save her. It was that simple. The key was simply to free up even one of them, not too hard, right?

Yeah. Sure. Not too hard.

Luckily, these children were, despite their age, professionals. And this was... and in a way, this was kind of depressing... not the worst situation they had ever been in. And they knew the best way out of any dangerous situation: Let Chrono think of something.

He was smart and stuff.

The thing that Nanoha needed right now was _air_, more than anything else. They needed to get someone to her at the maximum possible speed and get that girl's hand _off _her_. _Fate was the best choice, and so Chrono decided that to save Nanoha they first needed to save Fate, who was currently in the process of weaving through a storm of traps and magical arrows that would have done Arf proud, if she hadn't been totally furious to see them aimed at her Master. The problem with that was that Chrono and Yuuno were both fighting gigantic freakin' snakes. Well, _Chrono_ was fighting one. Yuuno was just being eaten by it.

Chrono could work with that.

_Yuuno! Let the snake swallow you!_

**_WHAT?_**

_I know how it sounds! Just trust me!_

_I **sounds** like you're trying to get me killed!_

_If I was doing that, I wouldn't be telling you, 'contract your shield and then expand it again when you're halfway down that thing's throat'. _

_... ... ... Oh._

Without further discussion, Yuuno disappeared down the serpent's throat. About five seconds later, the creature began to make a strange, hissing cough; it sounded amusingly like the world's largest cat having a hairball, but the results were _anything _but entertaining. The giant creature began violently thrashing, ramming its head into the street and nearby buildings... it was not used to food _growing _during the swallowing process, and not terribly certain how to go about dealing with that. It settled on, eventually, doing the logical thing: hacking Yuuno up, and then flopping onto its side to nurse terribly stretched throat muscles.

Yuuno never even stopped moving. Most people would have taken the time and energy to express disgust at being half-swallowed by a really big thing, but he was in a _hurry_ and so he didn't even take the time to lower his shields, merely projected the binds directly from them at the turned back of Tsukuyomi's familiar.

Physics lesson time. Don't worry, it's a very simple one: Newton's First Law of Motion. There's a bit more to it than this, but the gist is, 'An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force'. Now, considering the situation, Yuuno would be our object in motion, and moving very fast indeed. The outside forces acting on him would be gravity and, once the binds latched on, the extra weight of Kiyohime. Do _you _think these will be enough to halt or even significantly alter his forward motion?

"_Gack!_" Kiyohime squawked as she was dragged out of her latest spellcasting in a manner reminiscent of a rabbit that has been chained to the back of a speeding truck, bouncing along the pavement as Yuuno pulled her far, far too quickly to be comfortable. _He _had a very nice shield, though, which probably made the ride less painful for him.

And as to our little physics experiment, it looks like our answer would be 'no', because Yuuno was still moving pretty fast even with a screeching snake-woman attached to him. Isn't science fun?

Fate was not the sort to ignore such an obvious opening, and she dove. This was not the time for subtlety or gentleness; Nanoha had already gone blue. Tsukuyomi would take her hand off Nanoha, or Fate would take Tsukuyomi's hand off Tsukuyomi. It was that simple.

The Haken blade flashed down, her target the arm around Nanoha's throat. Tsukuyomi, unconcerned, raised one hand.

Fate's eyes widened at the sight of silver light gathering around the girl's palm. _She's not restricted to summoning...!_

"**Shining Howling Moon." **

The blast was, to be fair, somewhat serpentine. Similar to Nanoha's Force Burst, the blast was like a hydra centered on Tsukuyomi's palm, a multi-'limbed' energy beam, each arm a full-fledged buster, allowing for a _massive _target area. Through her fading consciousness, Nanoha was struck with even _more _panic than her asphyxiation; a direct hit from an attack like that would likely disable Fate under normal circumstances, but she was in her Sonic Form, she could _die..._

She really shouldn't have bothered worrying.

Tsukuyomi's eyes widened as a black and gold blur materialized into the figure of Fate Testarossa Harlaown.

Less than a meter away from her.

With that scythe raised over her head in both hands.

Tsukuyomi decided two things right then. First, that this girl was, in fact, _very _fast. Second, that as much as she might want to finish off Nanoha Takamachi herself, it really, really was not worth losing an arm to do it. She threw the girl aside and leapt backwards with all the speed she could muster, the Haken blade slicing through through the air where her hand had been less than a second before.

She brought her hands together, preparing a defense for this new threat, only to find even this slight effort wasted: without a word, Fate, threw one arm around the barely-conscious, gasping-for-air Nanoha and took off as fast as she could fly.

Tsukuyomi wondered, vaguely, if she was in over her head; the only active Nozuchi was currently resembling a Popsicle more than a snake, and would not be active for much longer considering its cold blood. Kiyohime was downed. And while she might have had more raw power than before, there was a significant chance that she'd be facing three-on-one odds the moment that Fate deposited Nanoha Takamachi somewhere safe and the Scrya boy focused his efforts on her. Worse, the two of them, with her high-speed close range fighting and his distance binds and enhancements, would likely be a devastating combination. Yes this situation could be problematic...

_Hey, you. Hold up a second, I've got this._

Tsukuyomi smiled, one of her rare genuine grins. Well, never mind then.

Fate tore through the skies, nowhere near her Sonic Form best but still moving at speeds that rendered her little more than a golden streak to anyone watching, Nanoha flitting in and out of consciousness in her arms. "Don't worry, I'm going to get you somewhere safe, and then we turn this whole situation aro-"

_"_Sorry, no_._"

The streak of blue light slammed into the golden one from beneath. There was a crash of thunder as lightning illuminated the cloudless sky, and the golden light went abruptly and _painfully _into the pavement below.

Nanoha lay smoking in the crater, tiny arcs of blue static still dancing along her body. She did not move.

Susanoo, his speed-boosting enhancement dispelled by the impact, held Fate, likewise out cold, up by her ankle just shy of the pavement. "Thinning your armor again, idiot? You can't be _doing _that when you're not in a position to watch your own back! Maybe this time will finally teach you that. Tsuku, you okay? Let's finish the clean-up and head home, okay?"

Chrono and Yuuno, in a display of almost impossible cosmic convergence, had the exact same thought at the exact same moment.

_We are **so **screwed. _

* * *

Signum realized, somewhat numbly, that she was probably going to die.

She wondered if there was some way out of it. Perhaps that was childish, but she couldn't help it. It seemed cosmically unfair that after all those centuries when her life had been meaningless, she'd only lasted a year in genuine happiness, and her mind sought some way out. Could she dodge? Could she deflect part of the blast? No to both, as far as she could tell.

The star that burned in the skies behind Amaterasu gave a hint as to the size of the incoming cannon assault, and it was going to be brutal indeed. She would be lucky if even ash remained after a direct hit, and the odds of completely dodging a blast of that size would be slim even if it were a beam. If it was a bombardment spell that detonated on impact, the odds were decent that they were _all _going to die, along with a significant portion of the city below.

_Very well. This is the end. _Signum thought. "Laevatein, my armor."

**"Panzer Geist."**

If nothing else, she could maybe absorb a little bit of the blast. Perhaps protect someone else in the skies. It just seemed the way to go out, if she had no other options.

Amaterasu smiled at her. "Sorry about this. You know, I promised Susa that I would take it easy, not really aim for rampant death, but... well, you're special. Burn brilliantly for me?"

**"Supernova."**

To call the spell 'intense' would have been a laughable understatement. Even before it fired, she could feel the heat. When the blast actually scythed across the sky, she knew in a heartbeat that her shield and armor would be less than worthless...

Five bright orange Mid-style circles appeared in the sky between her and the blast in a straight line, a multi-layered barrier between the Belkan knight and certain death. A gloved hand extended over Signum's shoulder. "Hold on!" Arf shouted from her position directly behind the other woman. "This is going to _suck!_"

Amaterasu fired. Literally.

"Holy Crap." Arf said. Signum, despite having the other woman's face within inches of her ear, did not hear this over the sound of the blast.

The bolt itself was white-hot flame, so tightly compressed it resembled a laser more than a flamethrower. The shield held it back not-at-all; the impact was, perhaps, slowed for a second or two. Still that was enough for two things: to ascertain that it's path was directed _over _the city, not at it. And for Arf to grab Signum and _dive. _

The scent of smoke has already filled the air, but it was joined now by the distinct smell of burning organics; hair singed by the close passage of flame? No. It was more than that...

Arf released Signum, shuddering slightly at the sight of the fading blast above them. "Damn... a near miss was bad enough, but... this girl's gonna be a tough nut to crack, isn't she?"

Signum's eyes widened as she recognized that Arf was not shuddering from fear. And, with a brief visual inspection, the source of exactly what she had smelled burning...

"Your hand..."

Arf, a combination of feral joy and agony on her face, let the blackened claw of her right hand fall limply to her side. "Didn't pull it back fast enough. Your defenses held back most of the ambient heat from me, but... my arm was in _front _of you. It'll probably be okay eventually."

"I doubt that! Please withdraw, and..."

"You honestly see that happening with her right there?" Arf asked dryly.

Amaterasu floated serenely, a wide smile on her face. "_Magnificent. _You two are simply... mmmmmmmmmm. I don't think I can do it. I thought I could kill you, that it would be worth watching, but now that I've really given it my all and seen this much of you, I really prefer you both like this. Oh my. Oh my, yes. There's simply no other options, I _must _have you. Simultaneously, if possible, but honestly I'll take whatever I can get."

Signum and Arf blinked several times, in silence. There didn't seem to be anything to say.

"So, can I take that as a yes?" Amaterasu asked hopefully.

"You are _deranged._" Signum said.

"You almost burned my hand off! I wouldn't touch you except to kick your teeth in!" Arf snapped.

"So... you need some time to think about it. I understand." Amaterasu said.

"_**Deranged**_." Signum said again.

Amaterasu sighed in annoyance. "Y'know, it was just an offer. A simple 'no' would have sufficed."

"I _said _no! Many times!" Signum protested.

"Hey, Signum?" Arf asked, pain obvious in her voice.

"Yes?"

"Would it be a huge problem if we kicked the crap out of her?"

"At this point, I honestly can't see any other course of action." Signum agreed.

"Why is nobody any fun?" Amaterasu moaned.

"Fire is a turn-off." Said a very, very annoyed male voice.

"**Barrier Shell."**

The bolt of blue light had its origin point on top of one of the nearer buildings that had been less-damaged by the fire; as though someone had taken advantage of the initial distraction by the armed agents and both of the sky-filling flame attacks to this point as nothing but a smokescreen to let them acquire a decent firing solution on Amaterasu.

Yes, 'as though'.

Commodore Bentz had not been a field agent for some time, but even when he had been, frontline combat had not been his forte. Most people didn't realize this, based on the fact that in terms of physical appearance he seemed to have more in common, cosmetically speaking, with a small bear than a human being. Clyde had excelled at face-to-face battle, but Taurus was and always _had _been a sniper, his proficiency at long-distance destruction... and more to the point, long-distance _captures_... unmatched. Amaterasu learned this now as the beam, rather than stay a single coherent bolt, exploded and shrouded Amaterasu in a translucent sphere of azure light.

"Spatial isolation?" She wondered out loud. "Well, good work on avoiding my notice, but when I break out of this in about three seconds I am going to hurt you _so _much..."

_Boys and girls, I'm going to strengthen the initial binding. Sanders, Cullen, tend to the wounded. You two, the Enforcers from the first unit: you are in no state to be fighting, especially the wolf girl. Get **back.** Everyone else, back me up. Containment is the name of the game. Bury her. _Bentz thought on a wide-spectrum broadcast, even as his Judgment loaded the next shot.

"**Shield Crash.**"

The binding was different: rather than a chain or rope as such things often were, it _collapsed _the bubble she was in, forming it into something like a skin of energy over top of her. Amaterasu had to admire the idea; the binding wasn't as strong as the typical 'chain', but dodging it was basically impossible. And then the chains _did _begin to arrive; those agents who hadn't been incapacitated by her bombardment were casting, binds upon binds...

Yes, Amaterasu was genuinely impressed. She had learned something good about the TSAB here; they weren't all about the exceptional Enforcers. They could hold their own under a variety of circumstances. They had _fangs._

_Amaterasu? Can you hear me? _Asked a faint voice in her head.

_Oh, hello, Majesty. How are things going? You sound rather tired. _Amaterasu asked, her tone not at all suggesting that she was currently wrapped under enough binds to ensure that burning free would either be impossible or melt off her own face.

_The transfer is complete. We just now got back acquired a comm frequency to reach through the storm. _Enlil replied. She sounded as though she were half-asleep, but not the worst that Amaterasu had ever heard her, at least. _How goes the mission?  
_

Amaterasu considered her position. She was, after all, tightly bound in chains from head to foot, a situation that was worth noticing. _Well, this is pretty much like one of my normal nights, though I generally prefer to be the one **doing** the tying down. _She thought after this brief consideration.

_... ... ... What?_

_Nothing. Orders, milady?_

_Erm... yes. Well. We're preparing to pull you out, but the portals are now useless since we're free of the Void. The master Gate should be able to get you safely back home, but the storm is making a lock difficult to acquire at the moment. If you could get the four of you close together, that would be ideal._

_The four? Then we're bringing Precia back with us?_

_... ... ... We **should**. She is not terribly useful to us at this point, but she might still be of some value. And more to the point, she knows enough that it could be quite dangerous to us if she's taken alive and interrogated. _Enlil said. _Save her if you can..._

_... Make sure she is unable to talk if I can't. _Amaterasu thought calmly.

_Correct. Either way, I need you home. It's time to start working on the next phase of Rebirth._

_Fun?_

_Tedious negotiations, if things go according to plan.  
_

_... ... ... well, I guess I'll come home anyway. But only because I like you.  
_

High-energy multi-frequency bindings like those she was currently trapped in were admittedly a pretty good way for distance mages to deal with a an opponent who excelled in close combat. Just layer on binding after binding of differing types until even the most powerful of targets couldn't move, and then either hold her there or bombard her into pieces, at your leisure. There were just only so many ways to deal with that for your _average_ warrior, none of them good.

**"Exorcism Form, set up.**" Kagutsuchi said.

And now, just as she had learned much about them, it was time for the TSAB to learn a little something about Amaterasu: she was not remotely average. She was _superb_. The Infinite Empire's shining Sun Goddess, undisputed commander of the Royal Guard for over a millennium, widely considered to be one of, if not _the _most gifted combatant in the entirety of that great nation for most of her very long life.

In short, she was actually really, _really _good at getting out of tight situations when she put her mind to it.

Her armor vanished, returning to the barrier jacket she more typically wore, and her spear shortened and streamlined itself. The binds attached to the weapon itself simply vanished; she spun the weapon once in her hand and slashed the magical chains off herself as through they were made of paper.

_"_What the...?" Bentz said. That binding could have held... anything at all, really. The skill of armed agent teams over individual Enforcers was in their ability to support each other and act as less of a 'team' and more of a single entity. The binding around the woman was generated by six separate magi combining their power into a single perfect union. She could not _possibly _have broken that through raw power, nobody could have!

Amaterasu considered the situation. Arf was, for all intents and purposes, disabled; she might talk of putting up a fight, but with her hand in that condition the concentration to use any but the most basic of spells would not come. The majority of those surrounding her were meaningless trash who couldn't really lay a finger on her and could be rendered useless with a mere mode shift. Thus, her only real problems were Kitten, who could not match her in a straight fight... and her charming new friend on the rooftops.

Well, she needed to move in his direction to get to Precia anyway.

Commodore Bentz leveled Judgment and loaded a cartridge round, taking careful aim... and the woman in his sights blurred and vanished.

"Hullo." She said from about a foot away from his ear.

_Impossible...! _Bentz thought, whipping his rifle around and firing blindly. This was not any sort of binding, but a straight blast, fully intended to put a hole through the woman if needed. Given how easily she'd escaped, and how quickly she could move when she really tried, anything less was simply not going to be enough. He had to put her _down_.

A swing of her arm, the merest brush against her device's blade, and the azure beam dissolved into harmless flecks of light.

A second, effortless swing, and flecks of blood flew through the air as he dodged back just a _little_ too slowly. The strike that had been aimed to take his arms off merely grazed them, sending his device clattering across the roof. Which was, in its own way, just as bad, admittedly...

"Oooooh, faster than I was expecting such a big bear to be!" Amaterasu purred. "I like you, but I'm afraid that mages like you people who rely solely on magical attacks really have no chance against me_."_

"That spear..." He said, a small grin on his face. "It compresses the majority of your magical powers into the blade itself, and dissipates any magic it touches, right?"

"Not bad. But then you saw me through the scope of your rifle, didn't you? That probably let you do a decent analysis." Amaterasu said, smiling warmly. "It doesn't matter how thick the binding or how strong the attack, that much magic focused into such a small spot can 'cut' anything but the greatest of high ritual magics. Unless you have some great physical power to supplement your magecraft, I'm afraid that you're mostly defenseless before my blade."

Without another word, she whipped the weapon behind herself, intercepting the incoming sword with a shriek of metal-on-metal. "That said, it is still a _spear_, kitten, and I'm awfully quick. You really ought to keep better track of these things."

Signum did not reply, except by slashing downward in rather vain attempt to cut Amaterasu's legs out from under her. Really, the woman had _no _concept of proper bantering. She was lucky she was gorgeous, or Ammy would likely just not bother with her. The woman in red expressed this displeasure by stepping on the sword aimed for her legs and driving it down into the roof, then linking her weapon through Signum's arms, spinning, and flipping the woman completely over her head. This would likely have inconvenienced Signum for about a tenth of a second... if she hadn't collided with the downed Taurus Bentz immediately upon landing, the two going down in a tangle of limbs with a surprised squawk.

There were several seconds of awkward rolling around, trying to get legs out of other people's faces and the like. By the time the two of them managed to get to a point where they could reliably stand up, Amaterasu was already well into her retreat.

Commodore Bentz said, from his new position beneath Signum, "Erm... young lady, she seems to be gone, so could you possibly get off me? Not that you aren't lovely, but I'm afraid my wife probably wouldn't appreciate seeing me in this position."

"I. Hate. Her." Signum growled.

"You're not even listening to me, huh?"

* * *

Tsukuyomi closed her eyes, her armor melting back into a staff. Her summons, scattered through the field, vanished as they were dismissed.

"Big brother, if you would mind dealing with the younger of the two? The one in black is better suited to my talents, so I'll deal with him." She said calmly. "This should not take long, I think."

Susanoo inclined his head slightly, and after a moment said, "We're pulling out."

"What? But you said..."

"That was before Ammy made a break for it. We really ought to go meet her, you know?"

_They're ignoring us. _Yuuno thought_. Why do they always ignore us?_

_Quit whining, I'm really not up to another round with that crazy girl right now. _Chrono thought back, trying to hide the fact that even his basic flight spells were starting to get a bit shaky.

_"_We cannot simply _leave!_" Tsukuyomi said. "These people are..."

"No threat to us, not anymore." Susanoo replied. "Mission's over, right? So we're going home."

_I'm just a little annoyed, that's all. _Yuuno thought. _I mean, if they just leave right now, that's a huge anticlimax. They were all ready to fight a second ago and now they're saying they're going to leave us here._

_Are you honestly saying you're **upset **that they aren't going to murder us?_

_Well, no, but I'm upset they aren't going to **try**. _Yuuno replied defensively. _It makes it seem like we don't **matter.**_

_I'd rather be unimportant than dead! _Chrono snapped, a little irritated that he even needed to have this conversation.

Tsukuyomi said, her voice thick with desperation, "But... but to just _leave _when she is still...!"

"Tsuku... are you okay?" Susanoo asked, ignoring Yuuno even more than he already had been. "I've been getting... well, you've been a bit off for awhile now. I was trying to get to you, but I got stuck and... look, when we get home, we clearly need to talk. You know you can tell me anything, right? But for now, orders or no, I think the best option is to get you out of here."

"I... I have to stop her, Susa. I have to..." Tsukuyomi muttered.

Susanoo watched her in growing concern. She was not only acting strangely, she was... well, Tsuku was not a naturally emotional girl, but in the space of a second, he saw far more feelings flash through her eyes than he was used to seeing from her. Confusion, sadness, frustration...

When it settled on _rage_, cold and calculating, he realized he might have a problem.

Several things happened then.

Tsukuyomi spun, her staff pointing to the unconscious Nanoha.

Yuuno, seeing this, burst into flight as quickly as could, fully intending to defend Nanoha with his body... assuming he could make it in time.

Chrono prepared what little energy he had left to deflect the attack as best he possibly could, realizing it probably would not be enough.

Susanoo sighed in annoyance and said, "Fine. I try to defuse the situation, you all don't let me. You want me to play rough? I can do that. Everybody here needs to _sit down _and _shut up_!

"Howl_, _Raijin."

"**Crying Heavens."**

Chrono had to admit something, then. Not out loud, of course... he admitted it in his head. He had considered, up until now, that Susanoo was the least dangerous of the three siblings. Even after seeing him take Fate by surprise, his attitude, general lack of skill, and Chrono's own earlier defeat of him, he had just grown, somehow, to consider the boy rather unimpressive.

This moment, however, convinced him that Susanoo was not, in fact, the least dangerous of his siblings. He was just the one that didn't try very hard.

The spell was nothing but raw power. The azure star ignited in the cloudless skies, and the lightning descended with force enough to sear the pavement, a coruscating pillar of pure power. The thunder from the strike shattered windows three city blocks away.

It did not strike anything in particular... but nothing nearby would be finding the world very comfortable after seeing and hearing it, either.

When Chrono and Yuuno cleared their eyes and got the ringing out of their ears, they found Susanoo holding his dazed sister by her collar, as though he was holding a kitten by the scruff of its neck. "Tsuku... you know I'd never hurt you. But I absolutely will _not _put up with you murdering helpless children when we don't even have _orders _to do so anymore. I understand that something is wrong, something is bothering you, and we clearly need to talk. But for now, we are leaving and if you won't come willingly, I am dragging you. _Understood?"_

Tsukuyomi was, perhaps, not the most 'typical' of individuals, and not great at picking up emotional cues, but even she could understand that her brother was dead serious at this point. Susa in serious mode could be... bad. _  
_

"Now, Does anyone else want to try to keep the fight going when I'm trying to leave?" Susanoo asked. Calmly. So very, very calmly.

Nobody said anything.

"Good!" He said, with a cheerful smile. "Now, let's go home."

* * *

Lindy couldn't help but notice that when things went wrong, they went wrong in a big way. That just seemed to happen to her circle of acquaintances.

Precia had been broken, more or less. She would, at least, not be escaping under her own power. All that was left was to keep eye over the semi-conscious woman and, if she tried to escape, hurt her badly with her own lightning. Again. She wasn't sure what to make of things elsewhere on the battlefield, but she had her own corner of things well in hand.

That should probably have been her first hint that things were going to go horribly wrong.

"Ah-_hem_." Said a mildly amused feminine voice from the skies above her.

It wasn't that Lindy hadn't sensed the power approaching. It was just that she had no idea at all how it had arrived as quickly as it did, or how it was that she'd missed the sheer _power _of it, like staring into the sun, an order of magnitude above any mage she'd ever met...

The gods looked down in judgment upon Lindy Harlaown, and found her...

"Cute, but boring." Amaterasu pronounced.

"Did you have to add 'cute'?" Susanoo asked.

"Well, she is a babe, you have to admit!"

"I am." Lindy said.

"And spunky, too!" Amaterasu chuckled. "Now, sweetie, are you going to move to the side and allow us to retrieve that thoroughly unpleasant woman?"

"Well, I'm not supposed to..." Lindy began.

In the blink of an eye, Amaterasu was next to and slightly behind her, spear held to her throat.

"... But I believe I shall make an exception in this case." Lindy finished.

"_Clever _girl. And just so you know, reinforcements are on their way, but we are faster than they are by a good margin. So don't try anything cute." Amaterasu purred, descending to wrap one arm around the prone woman's waist. "Susa, Tsuku, gather close. We shall be leaving soon, so get into transmission radius."

As the other two descended (the girl, Lindy couldn't help but notice, somewhat reluctantly) to stand next to their older sister. A pale green aura appeared around them, slowly growing in intensity.

"Do you mind if I ask..." Lindy said softly. "... what comes next? I assume you've gotten what you want. So..."

Amaterasu smiled brilliantly. "What we want? Oh, my dear, you have _no _idea. Trust me... this story is only just beginning.

"You'll see us again."

The light built to an intensity that was difficult to look at, and they were gone.


	28. Meet and Greet

**Chapter 28: Meet and Greet  
**

"So, I gotta ask: _What the #$% happened down there_?" Vita snarled.

As seemed to be the ongoing tradition these days, those of the gathered force who weren't in the infirmary were holding their tactical debriefing in an attempt to figure out what, if anything, had just happened to screw them over _this _time. Vita should, in all fairness, have probably not been at the tactics meeting given her injuries, but... well, she was a bit stubborn when she was really, really angry.

Just a bit.

Unfortunately, this was the sort of situation that really didn't call for Vita's normal attitude. A major dimensional event related to misuse of Lost Logia had occurred, and this was no longer a matter for one ship to deal with. The post-mission tactical debriefing was taking place at HQ, with Admiral Mizetto overseeing and enough personnel to staff the _Asura _a dozen times over running about frantically, trying to figure out what the Hell as actually going on. Despite this, the only chastisement she received was from Lindy, sitting near the head of the briefing table at Admiral Mizetto's right hand, who sighed and said mildly, "Language, Miss Vita."

"You're not my Master and I'm not one of your soldiers, so do _not _tell me what t-" Vita began.

Lindy stared at her. Just stared.

"... sorry." Vita muttered.

"Apology accepted." Lindy said cheerfully. She turned to Admiral Mizetto and said, cheerfully, "Now, sir, if you wouldn't mind filling in the ground team on what occurred off-world during the conflict?"

"We are not, at the moment, completely certain ourselves." Mizetto admitted. "A major dimensional event has most definitely occurred, but the exact consequences are unknown other than two factors. First, the strange boost in effectiveness of your adversaries. Second... _this._"

With a wave of her hand, the display appeared over the table, showcasing the swirling black vortex disfiguring the blues and violets of the dimensional seas.

"And... what _is _this?" Signum asked.

"Nothing good." Rein muttered.

"We know that the reaction which resulted in it," Mizetto said calmly. "Was a highly accelerated version of the natural process by which new dimensions are created; the convergence of the dimensional currents into a single point, creating an explosive reaction which then creates a pocket of relative calm in which life can exist. However, in this case..."

"Something corrupted the process." Rein said softly. "It's just... it's _cold _and _wrong _and I _felt _it when it happened, what should have been a brilliant burst of new life just opened a door to a vast, aching nothingness..."

"The working theory at the moment," Amy said, "Is that the process was somehow manufactured to bring something out of the dimensional void. This storm is a result of the 'negative' energies of the void being pulled through and violently interacting with the energies of the dimensional sea."

"There's energy in the void? You'd think it would be empty." Vita said.

"Yes, well..."

"I mean, it's called a 'void'."

"Well, I..."

"But there's energy in it. So it's not really a void at all."

Amy sighed. "Hayate?"

"Bad children sleep on the couch, Vita." Hayate said primly.

Vita stopped talking.

"Please go on, Miss Amy."

"... yes, thank you. In any event, as far as we can tell, the point of all this was to retrieve something from the void. Some... artifact or weapon, or..."

"A world." Yuuno breathed. "They needed to bring out something so huge it took an entire stable dimension to hold it? From the very beginning they were seeking to restore a lost world... an entire ancient planet, lost in a dimensional tremor thousands of years ago... oh, it's almost too much to hope for, but what else could it be? This is the single greatest..."

"You don't have to sound so happy." Chrono said. "These people are hostile. Them getting what they wanted is a _bad _thing."

"Er... right. Of course. Have to... fight crime." Yuuno said, a slight blush rising to his cheeks. "But, if, say, we were to _visit _this world, then perhaps..."

"I'm afraid that is a bit out of the question, young man." Admiral Mizetto said. "All analysis seems to suggest this storm reaction is unfortunately on the impregnable side."

"Nothing physical is getting through there, trust me." Amy said. "The energies involved are... well, they would rip the _Asura _to pieces, and she's about the most durable ship we've got. Whatever is in there, we're not getting in to see it."

Yuuno considered this. "Well... that's a good thing in some ways, correct? At least this means that nothing can get out, as well?"

Lindy sighed. "Not... precisely. _Someone _can apparently get people in and out... permission for the field team to provide our report, sir?"

"Granted."

"Saved the day. Got the Logia. Things went crazy. Got stepped on. I'm pretty pissed off." Vita said succinctly.

"_Vita!_"

"Sorry."

"The problem is, she is not entirely incorrect." Signum said. "While her description lacks a touch of... elegance... it is technically true. We successfully intercepted the Lost Logia we were assigned to, and had the hostiles contained. But... and I assume the timing to coincide with this reaction which has your scientists so confused?... Quite suddenly, the three major enemy combatants experienced a sudden, sharp increase in all measurable combat statistics. Exhausted as we were, we simply couldn't keep up."

Chrono nodded. "We already know that our 'friends' are not human. We can safely assume that whatever weapon..."

"Or planet!"

"_Yes, _Yuuno, or planet, that they liberated by the dimensional void, it serves the purposes of amplifying their abilities."

"By a lot." Vita grumbled, rubbing her stiff neck.

Hayate leaned forward, bringing one hand to her chin thoughtfully. "This... really, really worries me. Three exceptional magi does not make an army, so why have they been so hostile? They have to know they can't deal with the whole TSAB, they've barely kept up with a single unit, and only by making unusual alliances and exploiting unorthodox tactics. They've never once tried to negotiate... which makes me think they believe that whatever they've unearthed here will let them defeat the whole of the Bureau at once, or at least give them enough leverage to let them negotiate from a position of power."

The room fell deathly silent as all eyes turned to Hayate.

"Wh-what? Did I say something wrong?" She asked, looking at the incredulous gazes around the table.

Mizetto chucked softly. "Officer material, this one. Sees the big picture."

"... It was just what I thought..." Hayate said. Her face was very red indeed, but she didn't look unhappy at all.

From his position at Mizetto's left hand, Commodore Bentz cleared his throat. "Still, coulda been much worse. We did get the Logia, and we caught one of our... special friends."

"Ah, yes. Them." Chrono said darkly. "What have we learned from that?"

"The thing has a recall feature built in to allow the owner to teleport it directly to them from almost anywhere, so we've not learned a great deal since we need to keep the thing wrapped so tight in wards and stasis locks that getting close is next-to-impossible." Bentz admitted. "But the tech boys have informed me they'll be having nightmares for weeks. We couldn't confirm or deny much of anything, detail-wise, so they... were not expecting the scans to turn up living tissue in the circuitry."

"And the Lost Logia?"

"It's green." Bentz said.

"... ... Seriously, now."

"Honestly? It's not much different in form or function from those Jewel Seeds that popped up in the Testarossa Case. Obviously more stable, easier to program, but not significantly different. We haven't cracked the AI yet, but even if we could it's just a power source."

Admiral Mizetto shrugged. "Well, better to have it and not need it, I suppose. And truly, at the moment, I think we really could use as many trump cards in our hand as we can get." She cast a solemn gaze once more at the display screen, the dark vortex on it glimmering with a sickly gray inner light. "I simply do _not _like the looks of this..."

* * *

Enlil smiled softly as she sipped her water. "Well, it did not go perfectly, but we seem to have pulled off the phase one swimmingly."

Susanoo sighed in annoyance, leaning forward to fluff her pillow. "Yes, well, I wouldn't call it 'swimmingly'," He said with a scathing glance at his sisters. "There were some issues with excess amounts of _crazy_."

"Hey!" Amaterasu said. "Only Tsuku was acting crazy! I was just being like I always am!"

"Which is...?"

"Charming."

"... ... ... ... ... I hate you." Susanoo said. "In any event, the whole thing was a huge mess and I need to have a long, long chat about certain people concerning them being _stupid_. Beyond that, I'm also getting a little sick of coming home to find you lying on the floor half-unconscious, Lil."

"A-hem!"

"Your Majesty."

"Yes, well, hopefully this will be the last time." Enlil said. "I had my doubts concerning the use of only three Gates, but it seems the reaction is stable for the moment. Although... we couldn't get as much energy as I'd have hoped into the initial fusion."

"Is this a problem?" Tsukuyomi asked, a slight quaver in her voice. Susanoo sighed softly, his anger forgotten. _She lost the drive unit, and she lost control of her emotions... Please, **please **__say that it's not a problem, Lil, she'll blame herself if it is..._

**"Affirmative." **Yggdrasil's omnipresent voice stated. **"The beginning reactions were sufficient for our purposes, but only barely. The newborn dimension has been created, but not stabilized. A void-infused dimensional formation is a never-before-seen phenomenon, so I am unable to provide a truly accurate time frame, but based on my analysis of the reaction thus far and charting the degradation of the energy involved, I hypothesize that it will be between 20-25 standard days before the storm dissipates enough to allow travel through it by any means save the Master Gate. Our plans have been unavoidably delayed."**

"... ... ... screw you, Yggy." Susanoo said, watching Tsukuyomi's face fall in shame.

"**This is not physically possible.**"

"Must we bicker so, children?" Enlil asked dryly. "The delay is an irritation, but it hardly matters. Actually, if I'm careful we can most likely play it to our advantage in dragging out negotiations to paint ourselves as the reasonable party. The same with Susanoo's implacable softheartedness; perhaps it made the process itself more difficult, but we're in a better negotiation position now that we've projected an image into the public consciousness showing us as merciful. I'm not disappointed with any of the results we've attained here."

"Well... for a certain degree of merciful, yes..." Amaterasu said.

"... ... ... Yggdrasil, I believe I'm going to need headache medication as soon as possible." Enlil said.

"No, no, it's just... well. Um. Out in the field, I've kind of been... myself..."

"A double dose, please." Enlil said.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't kill anyone! I never went outside the boundaries of our orders to only engage in the necessary taking of lives ... Except that one guy, maybe, but he was just a _little _guy..."

Enlil rubbed her temples. "... in all honesty? This is a conflict, there were bound to be casualties; and frankly, only immolating a single person unnecessarily is better than I expected from you."

"Now you see, majesty, when you put it like that it makes me sound really bad..."

"_There is a reason for that_." Susanoo growled.

Enlil raised a hand again to call for silence. "I expect a certain level of viciousness from you all, Susanoo. Your job is intercept with extreme prejudice anything which poses a threat to me, and a willingness to hack said thing into small pieces mercilessly and on pure reflex is a _good _thing. It's hardly Amaterasu's fault she's been placed into a situation where those tendencies are a disadvantage. And realistically... the negotiations are more for appearance than anything else. We want to avoid pointless conflict as much as possible, but it's not as though the ultimate progression of the plan will be greatly hampered if they want to resist."

Amaterasu's slightly embarrassed expression shifted to a coolly analytical one. "And... you think they'll actually agree?"

"I think they won't have a choice." Enlil said, with a soft smile. "Now, it might just be a formality, but we should probably set up negotiations. I realize it's a bit premature, but now that you're operating back at something approaching your true potential, I have a message to send and nobody I trust to send it except you.

"Extend our olive branch to the TSAB. Inform them that we are, as of this moment, ready to begin negotiations to bring this entire situation to a peaceful conclusion, and that if they are interested in a cessation of hostilities than an ambassadorial team should be put together to meet us."

Her smile grew.

"Oh, I've had an amusing thought as to who the ambassadors should be..."

* * *

The music was like a living thing.

Like a physical force, Rialto's Fourth Symphony tore through the facility, the sheer power of the piece permeating every molecule of the building, overpowering even the machinery that hummed its constant electric whine.

He didn't often listen to music when he was working. Only when he was _inspired, _when the time had come to work on his _masterpieces_. When the lab was empty, and all lines of communication closed, and it was time to perfect his daughters. Alone, free, able to push the boundaries of science and technology to unimagined, unforeseen heights, and...

The comm screen blinked on, to indicate an incoming transmission.

Jail Scaglietti looked up from the mass of circuitry and armor plating that would eventually be the combat frame of Unit #9 (The mechanical aspects of the combat cyborg were progressing beautifully; they would eventually provide the basis for a truly exceptional close combat model. Unfortunately he was having a devil of a time locating a proper base gene structure capable of properly bonding to the heavy equipment...) and blinked several times, not exactly sure that he was seeing what he _thought _he was seeing. He knew that, for the moment, he was essentially a slave, but he had made it abundantly clear that in order for him to attain the results his handlers expected of him, he needed room to _create_. Nove was not going to assemble herself after all, and she was a _vexing _one, it was possible he'd need an entirely new, specialized gene sample to produce a body capable of withstanding the stresses of the combat subsystems he'd devised for...

The screen beeped again. He couldn't hear it over the symphony, but he _knew _it was beeping and the beeping was _disturbing to his demeanor_.

Reluctantly he gestured, bringing the sound of the orchestra to a sudden stop. "Uno?" He said. "Inform whomever is ignoring my request to be left alone that I am too busy with my research to take on any new assignments, and if these people ever want anything done properly they had best actually listen when their experts talk?"

"It's Section Black, sir. The Director, in person." Uno said dutifully from her position in Command and Control, overseeing the lab's database and functions.

"... oh. Oh-ho! This might actually be good news then." Jail said, cheering considerably. "I'll admit his projects tend to be more amusing than the norm, if nothing else. Very well, put him through to my monitor."

The monitor went live, though as always when the Director called, there was no face; just a blank screen. It was all rather silly... it wasn't as though Scaglietti had never met the man in person. Ah, well, some people just got wrapped up in that sort of thing. "Ah, my old friend." Jail said warmly. "It's been ages si-"

"**_When I call you, Doctor, you answer. Immediately._**" The Director said, the familiar altered tones striking just the wrong notes for a human voice.

Jail chuckled. "Ah, you haven't changed, I see. Still all business. You hide your face, you hide your voice, you insist only on titles even across the most secure of lines... why, I think I knew you for a year before I ever found out that your name was-"

"_**If you utter one more syllable I will have you killed**_." The Director said, without a hint of emotion in his tone. _**"The fact that you even **__KNOW that name is reason enough for that, if I had my way, but unfortunately I do not at the moment have the authority to lay a finger on you unless you step a bit further out-of-line."  
_

"HA! Ah, my friend, someday I shall perhaps have to discover why exactly you dislike me so much when we have so very much in common." Jail said, his smirk not diminishing in the slightest.

"_**Because you're insane, mostly.**_"

"Glass houses, my friend."

"_**... Because you can call me insane, but at least I believe in a cause. You, on the other hand, are insane without a purpose. You're a wild animal barely kept caged because you rely on us for your supply of Lost Logia to experiment on, and as soon as you've learned as much as you can in our care, you'll begin to seek more and you won't care what you have to do to get it. You cannot be trusted and I'm fairly certain that keeping someone as blatantly unconcerned with the future of the Bureau as you in our employ is going to result in a disaster." **_

"Flattery, my friend, will get you nowhere." Jail said, not bothering to deny the obvious. Really, he liked this man in strange way. Sometimes it seemed like he was the only one of 'higher-ups' who actually paid _attention _to him.

_**"In any event, I'm forced to occasionally acknowledge that even the most rabid of animals can serve a purpose." **_The Director said. _**"How aware are you of..."**_

"The unusual energy formation currently swirling about mindlessly in dimensional space?" Scaglietti finished. "Do you even have to ask? Within ten minutes of its emergence I knew more about it than any other person alive, and five minutes after that I determined that it was not a threat to my research nor particularly interesting."

"_**Well then, it is my great pleasure to inform you that you are WRONG, Doctor.**_" The Director said, and indeed the satisfaction in his tone leaked through despite the voice modification.

Jail rolled his eyes at the tone, but listened to the explanation anyway whilst continuing to make some adjustments to the circuitry that would one day be Nove's right arm.

Then he began listening more intently, the adjustments coming less and less frequently.

Then he just pushed the machine away.

When the Director had finished his outline of the general situation, the Doctor had only one thing to say.

"I want it all. Every record, every machine, every scrap of knowledge they have to offer. Everything."

_**"Finally, we agree on something." **_The Director said. "**_But the problem of dealing with the current owners has become prohibitively difficult_**, _**I fear, and the more... legitimate branches of the Bureau are quite active in this case. We cannot afford to involve ourselves more directly than we already have."**_

"Active?"

"_**They took a Black Cat. It is not likely they can learn anything significant from it, but..."**_

Jail blinked a few times. "Ah... well, I suppose I should mention a small detail concerning the implant I place into the primary motor cortex, just behind the second subneural web..."

_**"We found your initials and filed them off shortly after the units were delivered."**_

"Oh, that's good. It would have been rather awkward for them to learn the Cats were my prototypes..."

_**"I probably shouldn't ask, but why do you even put those in there, anyway?"**_

"An artist has to sign his work, of course."

_**"... I hate you so much."**_

"And yet I am needed, or you wouldn't be here."

"_**Believe me, I am painfully aware of this fact. We have a plan for dealing with this situation efficiently, once access to the interior of that storm becomes possible and the world is exposed, but our own techs have been having a difficult time assembling the needed equipment. Tell me, Doctor... what can you do with this?" **_

The blueprints for the bizarre device filled the screen, and instantly caught Jail's full attention. He couldn't help it. The machine was fairly simplistic; a gray concave disc with a trio of prongs extending from one flat surface, a small, spherical green gem clasped firmly within them. A simple, almost ugly device, yet looking at the plain mechanism and the woefully inaccurate research notes set his mind ablaze; theorems and equations and design options that were painfully obvious to _him _but which had somehow been missed by whatever dolt did the initial assembly all running through his brain without pause.

Doctor Jail Scaglietti smiled.

This was _never_ a good sign.

"I think I can work with this, yes."

* * *

"Tsuku... I think we need to talk." Susanoo said. The three siblings had left Enlil's bedside to prepare for upcoming duties; Amaterasu was off doing something (do you _really _want to know what she does in private?), and Tsukuyomi had gone to the Royal Library. She wasn't reading any of the thousands of text documents or millions of electronic records... she was merely sitting. Alone.

And when she was alone, her big brother reasoned, that was when he shouldn't let her be by herself. Being alone by yourself just sucked.

"It will have to wait, I'm afraid." Tsukuyomi said softly. "We ship out again in less than an hour. You are still damaged, even if you don't feel it, and..."

"That's not important. None of it is." Susanoo said. "We _need _to talk. You've been acting strangely, lately. Even Ammy noticed a little bit, but she's too self-centered to really pick up how bad it is. But me... do you really think there's any way you could possibly hide something like this from _me_, Tsukuyomi?"

"... ... I had hoped to." She said. She had always been a small girl, physically, but to Susanoo's eyes his baby sister had never been tinier. "I... I don't know what to say about it. I'm confused, and frightened, and angry, and I don't understand why I'm feeling this way."

Susanoo considered the situation. ""Hee hee. I didn't think that Nanako girl was saying anything all that world-shaking, honestly, but it's sure got you stirred up! Still, it's nice that you're bonding with her... so much you're starting to screw up a little, even!"

He didn't even try to dodge when she punched him; he'd been expecting as much. "You... you..." she growled. "How could you... how _dare _you...!"

He smiled down at her, showing no visible pain despite taking a blow to the jaw that could have crumpled plate steel. "Heh... this is why I've always told you not to be so cold, y'know? The only way to know how to deal with things like feelings is to deal with them. You're not a little girl, Tsuku, but in a lot of ways you're not exactly a grown-up either. You've always been... distant. And not a lot of people bothered to try to close the distance, I know that much. And some of the ones who did... well. Disappointments happen."

"It's not a problem. Really, none of that bothers me anym-"

"Honestly, I think it's my fault. You're the baby, and I've always been there for you, so it's like... you let that bond take the place of everything else and never made any real friends. And since I love you and I liked being someone you could rely on, I didn't try to push you to anything. But shutting yourself off from the possibilities isn't really healthy, Tsuku. Building up that armor and never letting anyone but a few select people get too close... it's just sad. I should have said something long before now." Susanoo said, smiling gently. "Life is... people. You have to reach out, let people get close, live and make friends and make enemies and fall in love and fall out of it and get angry and get sad and get _hurt. _It's okay that you like this girl, you know? And it's okay that you're angry at her. And it's even okay that you're confused by the fact that you like her _even though _you're angry. That's all... normal."

"And..." Tsukuyomi whispered. "And why _is _it so confusing? I was... I was losing my mind, it felt like. I was supposed to kill her, but I didn't want to. I didn't even want to do things that made her sad, because when she was smiling, and kind, it made me feel warm. But then she lied to me, and I hated her so much... I _wanted_ to kill her, when before it hurt to even think of it. But now I don't even know why I wanted that. I'm angry, but I think I would be sad if she'd died... but..."

Susanoo smiled, knelt down, and took her into his arms. "It's called 'forgiveness', sweetie. She got close. She hurt you. You got mad. And now, because you like her, you're starting to forgive."

"... I don't know if I want to. When I hated her, it was simpler." Tsukuyomi said. The tears didn't fall, but Susanoo could hear them in her voice. "When we meet again... and I can't bring myself to kill her...?"

"Then don't." Susanoo said.

"But... our mission..."

"Hey, I didn't say you couldn't kick the crap out of her." Susanoo said dryly. "Stomp her! Then be friends afterward. There's nothing weird about getting along with someone you get along with, no matter if they're on the opposite side or not; just means you have to be careful not to knock their teeth out too hard. And if you have _no choice_ but to... y'know... then all you can do is mourn her, and wish things could have been different. That's how battle... no, that's how _life _works. Taking risks and getting hurt is a part of how we grow. And the losses just make it more worthwhile when it finally turns out right."

Tsukuyomi nuzzled her head into her brother's chest, relaxing into his arms just a little. "I... I'm not sure. I... perhaps I can try, but I don't know if I can be like you, Susa."

"Well, I am pretty awesome. It's hard to match."

"Haaaaaalllllllloooooo!" Screamed an unwelcome voice. Amaterasu poked her head into the library. "Are you two around h- _eeeeeeeehhhhh_! What do you two think you're doing having cuddle times without me?"

Susanoo winced. "We were having a moment. And since you ruin those... _case in point_... I thought it was better to have it without you."

"Grrrrr... well _fine. _Don't include me in adorable cuddle moments. See if _I _care! But for now, you two need to drop your ambiguous sexual tension-"

"_**OUR WHAT?"**_

"- and get ready. We're heading out, and we've got to be _diplomatic_, so no hormones or teary confessions all over the place." Amaterasu finished.

Susanoo was silent for a long moment.

He then smiled brilliantly, and released Tsukuyomi. "Actually, sis, there is something I want to give you. I've been thinking about your a lot recently, and we really _don't _connect enough. And it's not fair to only be close to Tsuku!"

"... true..." Amaterasu said, suspicious but hopeful.

"So..." he said, stepping forward and placing one hand on her cheek. "How about something special for my beloved big sister?"

"... ... eep." She said, barely able to keep from licking her lips. "I like this thought."

"Close your eyes." He whispered, leaning in close enough that she could feel his breath on her ear.

Amaterasu slipped one hand around her brother's waist, placed the other on top of his own hand atop her cheek, closed her eyes, and pursed her lips. She was fairly shivering in anticipation.

Susanoo smiled.

He then took a rapid step back, balled his right hand into a fist, and punched her in the face as hard as he could.

The walls of the royal library were, as with everything else in the palace, lavish, a sturdy and gorgeous striped gray marble-granite. Amaterasu did not even leave a scratch as she slammed into them and fell to the floor like a puppet with her strings cut.

"There." Susa growled. "We've _connected._"

"... why?" Amaterasu groaned.

"Shooting Vi in the back, among other things." Susanoo said.

"... ... ... all right, I admit I should've seen this coming." Amaterasu grumbled, her face still pressed into the floor.

"You really should have." Susanoo agreed. "All right! Mission time. Let's rock!"

"I-it's a diplomatic mission..." Tsukuyomi said. She was trembling slightly, apparently resisting the urge to release one of her impossibly rare laughs. She doubted Amaterasu would appreciate it.

"... ... Let's rock diplomacy!" Susanoo said, undaunted.

* * *

Fate opened her eyes, blinking softly. She looked around herself slowly, confirming what she had been afraid of when she opened her eyes without remembering going to sleep: she was in the infirmary. Again.

"... ... ... I really must stop waking up here..." She muttered to herself softly.

She turned to her left, and saw Nanoha, sleeping peacefully. Fate smiled at that... the girl looked good. Not really hurt so much as tired, though there were some worrisome bruises on her neck from where Tsukuyomi had attempted to strangle her.

She turned to her right, and liked less what she saw there. The large, heavy metal doors the led to the Surgery Wing were sealed shut, and through their Master/Familiar bond, Fate simply knew...

Arf was in there. She wasn't in any danger of dying, but she was in pain, and judging by the impressions very likely sedated...

"It's all right." Said a calm, warm voice from across the room.

"Miss Shamal...?"

"Your Familiar's arm was badly burned, and required rather intense treatment. But she should have full use of it again within a month or two, without permanent damage. Part of the joy of having a magically constructed body is that repairs are much simpler. A lesson we've learned many times ourselves." Shamal said soothingly. "... ... perhaps too _many_ times, in Signum and Vita's case, they really ought to be more cautious..."

Fate sighed in relief. "As long as Arf is going to be all right. I was worried about her..."

Shamal smiled affectionately. "You're a lot like Hayate, you know that? I'm glad that she made such kind friends."

Fate blushed a little at that. "R-really, it's mostly Suzuka to thank. Without her, none of us would have ever met Hayate..."

Shamal's smile only widened. "And then where would we be? I'll have to make that girl some cookies."

"... ... ..." Fate said.

"... what?"

"I thought you wanted to _thank _Suzuka."

"... Miss Fate, you have been spending _entirely _too much time around Vita. You're starting to pick up her bad habits. Like making fun of people's cooking skills when she is in fact a very good cook who only melted _one _pot and it mostly wasn't even her fault." Shamal said coldly.

"Actually, it was Signum who told me you couldn't cook..." Fate said, feeling a little bit bad in spite of herself.

"Traitor." Shamal muttered. Fate wondered if she should laugh, or if that might make Shamal into a scary doctor again...

"So... about the mission..." Fate began.

"I'm afraid it didn't go as planned. We're not sure of exactly what, but at the least something has gone wrong." Shamal said.

"Did... did everyone come out okay?" Fate asked. She didn't think Susa would... but the other two were clearly much less pleasant, and...

"... ... maybe." Shamal said. "Arf isn't the only one in emergency surgery. Ensign Colclazure, one of the field team, was... well. He was very nearly burned alive, and the wounds are critical. His survival is uncertain, and even if he lives, he..."

Fate hung her head. "O-oh. I didn't..." she chuckled bitterly. "I asked if everyone was okay, and I was only thinking of my own friends. It never occurred to me that... I've been so selfish. I never even thought of the others..."

"Miss Fate." Shamal said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's all right. Thinking of your friends first is normal. It doesn't mean anything bad about you, and it doesn't show any lack of respect. Don't worry about it."

Fate took a deep breath. "Yes. You're right. And... well, beyond that, what about the mission itself?"

"I'm sorry I can't give too many details... I've been busy assisting the medical staff here, so I haven't been to the strategy meetings. But you've only been out an hour or two, so I'm sure you haven't missed much!"

"That's all right," Fate said reassuringly. "I'm sure they'll bring me up to speed eventually. Besides, if it's only been an hour or two, then we probably have plenty of time before any new events happen that demand my attenti-"

_**"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeello, Time Space Administration Bureau! How are all you lovely kids doing today?" **_Said a painfully familiar female voice over the station's PA system. "_**Now, I'm sure you've already guessed that I'm not your regularly scheduled announcer, but bear with me for a moment because I've got some deeply exciting news for you. **__**Now, where to begin... my name is Amaterasu. I was looking over some of your records, and I just thought you all looked SO interesting. Let's chat! We were hoping to get some fine young ladies and gentlemen to come visit our home, sit down for a nice drink, and really get to KNOW each other. Particularly the adorable... can I call you adorable?... kids that made up that charming enforcer team that gave us soooooo much trouble. **_

_**"And ESPECIALLY the daughter of Precia Testarossa."**_

Slowly, almost puppetlike, Shamal turned to look at Fate.

"... Eep?" Fate said.


	29. Step into the Abyss

**Author's Note: Realistically, this chapter and the previous one should have been a single chapter. If you add them together they're about the length of a usual chapter. It's just that... well. Fate's confused little 'Eep?' was too perfect a place to leave a chapter break on. I'm sorry. **

**Chapter 29: Step into the Abyss  
**

Life had been so very nice for Valeria Simmetti, five minutes ago.

She had probably the best job in the Bureau; working in the central comm relay for Headquarters. Her job consisted of two things: facilitating long-range communications by acting as a relay point for units who were too far apart to talk directly. And transmitting direct orders given to her by the top brass. So basically she was some combination of a hyped-up telephone operator and the morning announcement girl.

Thing was, this suited her just fine. It meant she was a Bureau employee, with all the privileges of same (the medical plan was, quite literally, magical), but rather than go out to dangerous places and fight criminals or poke ancient machines and hope they didn't explode, she got to sit right in the center of the most secure installation in the known universe and press buttons. Not even a lot of buttons. Mostly she and her three co-workers sat up in C&C, occasionally reading off scripts they were given or telling people to report to specific departments, but mostly pushing buttons. They played cards, ate snacks, told jokes, and _totally _got paid for this. Awesome, right?

"If you move, I will kill you all." Tsukuyomi said. Her tone wasn't hostile in any way, just a plain statement of fact. And to be fair, the girl wasn't intimidating.

The giant axe held by the boy next to her was pretty scary, though.

"We're not going to move." Valeria squeaked.

"That's cool of you, really. I mean, we totally just came busting in here without even knocking, and you've been really cool about it. I wish everyone were as cool as you." Susanoo said.

So yes, Valeria Simmetti had a totally great job. Five minutes ago, before _someone _had _somehow _teleported right into the middle of her supposedly secure workspace and held her and her coworkers hostage whilst they broadcast an inappropriately flirtatious message throughout the whole of Headquarters.

Five minutes ago life had been so very nice for Valeria. Now? She was wondering if maybe she should have listened to her mother and gone into dentistry.

* * *

The reaction to Amaterasu's announcement was made without the slightest hesitation.

"_Everyone **sit down**_." Admiral Mizetto said, her voice as cold as ice and as hard as diamond as she looked around the table at half-a-dozen mages getting to their feet. "Do _not _simply go running up to the comm center, _any _of you."

"**_Niiiiiiice._**" Said the voice over the speaker. "_**It's good someone knows to stay calm, that makes things easier.**_"

"Only because she's old enough to recognize the inherent flaws of starting a magical confrontation in the middle of a space station." Admiral Mizetto said. "That said, if you wanted a calm reaction this was not the way to get it."

"**_What can I say? I like making an impression." _**Amaterasu said. "_**And I vastly prefer a captive audience when I have something to say, so if I'm going to talk, I want to make absolutely certain that all you charming ladies and gentlemen are going to listen."**_

"And if we don't, you'll start melting holes in the superstructure. Wonderful." Chrono growled.

_**"****Such a cleeeeeever boy.**_" Amaterasu said. _**"I would pinch your cheeks if we were in the same room."**_

"Go. To. H-"

"_Chrono! _Language." Lindy chided.

"-ave a bad day, because I find you an unpleasant person." Chrono finished.

"_**How mean! Just for that, you don't get a kiss.**_" Amaterasu said. The worst part was that she sounded genuinely hurt by possibly the lamest insult in the history of time.

"_Go to Hell._" Amy snarled.

_**"Oooooh, someone's got a cruuuuuush..." **_Said the voice over the PA in a sing-song tone.

Lindy sighed. "Amy. Chrono. This really isn't the time to exercise your crush on each other."

_"We do not have a-"_

"Now, what exactly are you here for, might I inquire? Negotiations, yes, but in detail." Lindy said, cutting them off with a sharp gesture.

"_**Ooooooh, sorry, I'm afraid that's not for me to discuss, and certainly not here." **_Amaterasu said. "_**Our Master wishes to discuss future arrangements with you. We're quite eager to just burst back onto the dimensional landscape. Really sink our teeth into things. But we figure that, you being the top dogs currently, we probably should talk a bit first."**_

"If your Master wants to talk, we can guarantee them safe passage." Mizetto said. "There was no need for these theatrics, nor for your hostility to this point. So why, then..."

"_**Again: Not my place to explain.**_" Amaterasu said. "_**And Her Majesty does not leave the safety of Al Sethis. Ever. If you want to know what's going on... really KNOW... you come to us."**_

"Al Sethis...?" Yuuno muttered under his breath. His mind leapt in two different directions at once; the one cross-referencing that name from the list of worlds accessible from the Gate network and coming to the conclusion that it was indeed the top of the list, the other wondering if 'In the Shadows of Al Sethis' was a good title for the book (HA! _Series _of books!) that he would be writing about this world once he got to explore it.

"An ambassadorial delegation?" Admiral Mizetto asked. "And assuming we are interested in negotiating with known criminals... what guarantee to their safety do we have?"

**_"My word they'll be sa... HA! Yeah, I couldn't get that out with a straight face." _**Amaterasu said. "_**Realistically, you don't have anything. Anything that I tell you could be a lie. I'm a criminal, after all. But considering the people I just outlined as the requested ambassadors... tell me, how do you plan on **__STOPPING them from going?" _

Mizetto stopped, looking around the conference room.

Each and every single person who had stepped into the field and fought against the invaders had the exact same expression of unwavering determination.

"_Erm... Admiral?" _Said a soft voice on another channel. "_This... this is Fate, and... well, they requested that I go especially. It might be a trap, but..."_

"But you want to go." Admiral Mizetto said dryly.

"_Yes, ma'am. And I'm sure that Nanoha will say the sa-"_

_"I'm going._" Interjected a slightly groggy but otherwise strong voice as Nanoha made her thoughts clearly known. "_Even if you have to wheel me there in a hospital bed, I'm going_."

Lindy cleared her throat. "Mmm-hmm. Admiral, if you don't mind... we seem to have an ambassadorial delegation. I'll be happy to act as the command officer..."

"I really shouldn't be surprised by any of this. Children are insane..." Admiral Mizetto sighed.

"_**That's half of what makes them so fun, though!**_" Amaterasu said.

Ignoring her, Mizetto said, "You do realize the odds that this is a trap and you are all walking to your dooms is considerable."

"Yes, so?" Chrono said.

"Acceptable." Signum said.

"Meh." Vita said.

"Would I be allowed to bring some analytical equipment to the lost world? ... Not for any particular reason. Just because." Yuuno said.

"How can we _not_ go? This might be the only path left." Hayate asked.

"_If we don't talk, we can never understand each other!_" Nanoha said.

"_W-well... they did politely ask me to attend_..." Fate said.

"... ... ... I refuse to be out-braved by ten-year-olds, honestly." Lindy said.

"Yes, well... to the young lady using our communications systems without permission, I think we've got your ambassadors." Admiral Mizetto said with an air of defeat. "What comes next?"

* * *

What came next was actually pretty simple.

The Master Gate might have been the only thing that could breach the storm, but it was awfully good at doing that. The only thing needed to get the group where they were going was to have them stand clumped together, stand very still and not try to resist the transmission feed, and provide their exact coordinates. The wards around the station were simply not up to the task of preventing the Gate from going through them, at least not without increasing their power to the point that none of the TSAB's teleportation spells would work either. So beyond standing in a pre-determined location, the only thing they were told to do was make sure that Barrier Jackets were on and full defensive shielding was powered up completely.

"This is relentlessly stupid." Commodore Bentz said.

"We're still going, Taurus." Lindy said cheerfully.

"You know they could just teleport you into space, right? There's literally nothing to stop them from doing that."

"If they really wanted to hurt us, they wouldn't be allowing us our weapons and encouraging us to move in fully armored." Chrono said.

"Or they're confident they can just kill us anyway." Vita said

"Yes, or that." Chrono agreed. "Either way we're going."

"_Relentlessly _stupid." Bentz grumbled.

Nanoha smiled a little shakily. She was somewhat pale and using Raising Heart as a walking stick, but she was at the very least up and moving around. "The right thing usually seems at least a _little _stupid, I think."

"No, the _stupid _thing seems stupid. Admiral, sir, I think we should just raise full shields and..."

"I agree with many of your concerns, Commodore. But to be blunt, we do need as much information as we can get, and nobody going on this mission has not volunteered." Admiral Mizetto said, softly but with an air of finality.

"... It's still stupid."

"That's why we're leaving you behind." Lindy said cheerfully. "So the Bureau will still have plenty of stupid when we're gone."

"... oh, ha HA." The giant man laughed bitterly. Then, in a much softer tone, he said, "You better come back alive, Lin. Last thing I need is Clyde haunting me because I couldn't keep his gal safe."

"His 'gal' has been the one keeping _your_ idiot self safe all these years." Lindy said with a wink. "All right then. If everyone's ready to go, then I believe we just signal our 'friends' and... oh _my _that was fast."

And it really was, actually. One moment they were calmly waiting on the transit pad for some sign of what was to come, and the next moment they were...

Were...

... ... Somewhere. They were certainly _somewhere_. There was air, albeit thin air, and light, but...

The air was still and freezing cold. The light came not from sun or stars, but from automated panels scattered throughout abandoned structures stretching as far as the eye could see. The sky was a roiling black tempest, and there was not anywhere to be seen the slightest _hint _of life...

"Look at this place." Chrono said softly, in some combination of fear and awe.

"What happened here?" Nanoha asked in open horror. "It's like the whole world just... stopped."

"Yes... all the architecture is intact, but there are no people. It's as if the population simply died in mid-step." Signum agreed.

"It's... awful." Fate said.

"It's creepy." Vita grunted.

"It's amazing!" Yuuno said.

The silence following this comment was so heavy it could have crushed Yuuno to gel, if he hadn't been far too excited to notice it.

"Just look at it!" He said, his excitement clearly growing. "A fully intact city left by a lost civilization! Can you imagine what we can_ learn _from all of this? Not just about their technology and their magic, but about their music, art, their culture and the cultures of other civilizations from the same time period... oh! Libraries! We have to find some kind of a data terminal and see if the libraries and museums have survived as well as these structures! This is the greatest find in history! I'll need to contact the Elders, this trove is enough to keep the entire clan busy for years!"

"Y-Yuuno..." Nanoha said with a nervous grin. "People do still live here, you know."

"And honestly, we're happy to have someone interested." Amaterasu said, the three gods appearing a short distance away from the diplomatic party. She went on, fairly well _squealing_, "Welcome! We're so glad you could all attend. Her Majesty is very eager to meet you indeed. You children have interested her greatly with your performance over the last few weeks."

"Hi Tess! Hi Vi! Hi Nanako!" Susanoo said.

"_Nanoha!_"

"Who?"

"Anyway!" Amaterasu said, interrupting before things could get weird(er). "Welcome, ambassadors. You're the first diplomatic convoy we've had in a great while, and we're looking forward to the experience. If you'll please follow me... keep your shields up, please, we've managed to more or less scrub the atmosphere back to within human tolerance but the void energies are still concentrated enough to be lethal without an active barrier jacket... we will direct you to the palace and Her Majesty's council chambers, where the actual negotiations will take place. If you'd like I can point out a few landmarks on the w-"

"_Yes!" _Yuuno said, fairly well sprinting to her side. "If I could get access to a databank, any databank at all, I wouldn't ask for restricted data, just basic cultural information, and can you discuss the purpose of that large marble domed facility that doesn't match the architectural style of the other buildings in the area, and what is your connection to Al Hazard?"

"Ha! We have a little intellectual." Amaterasu said. "Well, to answer your rapid-fire inquiries, cutie: I'll see what I can do, I'm sure an exchange of cultural information will be quite possible. That's... a medical facility, for lack of a better term. And asking about Al Hazard on this world would be a good way to start a fight if you were talking to someone who found you less adorable than me."

"A-a-a-a-a-adorable...?" Yuuno said, blushing furiously.

"Hee hee, so your devotion to academics only goes so far? Shy is cute." She said, tapping him on the nose with one finger. "Look me up in ten years, honey, I'll give you a _real_ education."

_... I don't like her. _Nanoha thought. "Excuse me!" She said out loud. "It's just that most of our own legends of lost worlds revolve around Al Hazard. But if we're not on Al Hazard, then..."

Tsukuyomi said softly. "As before, this is Al Sethis. The World of Twilight, the Undying Star, the Heart of Infinity."

"Al Sethis..." Yuuno said. Yes, it would sound good in a book title, definitely. "You're not affiliated with Al Hazard, but you're named similarly. Were your civilizations interconnected?"

Susanoo laughed, just a hint of bitterness in the tone. "Oh, kid, you have _no _idea."

"Be polite, Susa." Amaterasu chided. "'Al' just means 'World' in Ancient High Hazardi, which was very much the _lingua franca _for the majority of civilized space during the reign of Al Hazard. 'Al Hazard' means 'World of Thought'. 'Al Sethis' literally does mean 'World of Twilight'."

"The reign of..."

"We don't talk about that, preferably. Suffice to say that this world, along with most other known worlds, was once named by and under the control of the Thought Lords of Al Hazard. Very smart folks. Unfortunately also unpleasant, even by my standards, and not shy about sharing this unpleasantness with the people unlucky enough to be caught in their experiments." Amaterasu smiled viciously. "Then people started to get annoyed with their entire worlds being used as petri dishes in some insane hunt for ultimate knowledge. There was war. _Several _wars, actually, stretched out over the better part of two centuries."

"Th-then..."

"But really, this is neither the time nor the place. Suffice to say they're gone, and we're back. That's all that really matters." Amaterasu said firmly. "Now, if you wanted to see some of the larger royal libraries..."

"... ... ... okay, yes, I'd like that." Yuuno admitted, deciding to take what he could get.

"Heh. Cute kid." Amaterasu said, tousling his hair.

_I don't like her. _Nanoha thought again.

The unlikely envoys began their walk forward, following Amaterasu cheerfully playing Yuuno's tour guide. Even Nanoha had to admit that she was glad for this, because the tense silence among basically every other member of the group was palpable. Particularly since it was very noticeable that Susanoo and Tsukuyomi had taken flanking positions around the Bureau mages, allowing them to start a crossfire instantly if anything happened.

Susanoo fell back into the throng, smiling. "Hey Tess! How are you?"

"Arf almost lost her arm." Fate said coldly.

"And I got smashed with a giant hammer, but you don't see me whining." He said cheerfully. "These things happen on a battlefield. As long as everyone came out okay, holding a grudge is silly, right? So cheer up."

"Everyone didn't come out okay." Chrono practically snarled. "Your sister quite possibly killed a man. This isn't a _game_ you son of a..."

"And it's regrettable. She shouldn't have done it, not at that point." Susanoo said, with perfect calm. "But that sort of thing happens in war. It's fine to be upset about it, but if you let it get to you too much you're going to lose your mind. All anyone can do is try to do the best they can to ensure victory with as little loss of life as possible."

"This isn't a war!" Nanoha protested. "It's just... if you would only _talk _to us, you wouldn't have to commit any of these crimes! If all you wanted was to escape from wherever you were trapped, why didn't..."

"Who ever said that is all we were after?" Tsukuyomi asked. "You do not yet have all the details of this situation. Until you do, please do us all a favor and be _silent._"

Nanoha did so, though more out of shock at the glacial tone than due to the instructions themselves.

"I... I apologize. This is a diplomatic envoy, and I should maintain my decorum." Tsukuyomi said softly. She appeared to be blushing slightly. "I... I don't really want to..."

"It's all right," Nanoha said, a gentle smile on your face. "Things didn't go the way I wanted them to, either. I hope you can forgive me."

"I... I..." Tsukuyomi said.

"Not the time, Tsuku." Amaterasu said mildly. "We're here."

"Holy Crap." Vita said.

It wasn't that they hadn't seen the palace coming. It was just that until you got right close to it, it was easy to mistake it as just the city skyline.

The Palace of Twilight was definitely the biggest building Nanoha had ever seen, and possibly the largest artificial structure, with only TSAB's space-station HQ as a comparable. It seemed to consist of a series of large towers extending up from a massive central facility, and was... oddly pretty. The workmanship was almost entirely a silver-streaked black stone unlike anything else Nanoha had seen on her progression through the city, and the effect of the towers extending from it made the whole thing look almost like a bizarre artificial coral growth, rather than a building. It was both intimidating and somehow beautiful. "Chrono..." Nanoha said. "This place is amaz-"

"Mother of God. This isn't a palace, it's a deathtrap." Chrono muttered under his breath.

"Eh?"

"Those towers?" Chrono whispered to her. "They're weapon emplacements."

"... ... ... they're bigger than some of the skyscrapers!" Nanoha said, eyes widening.

"I know. And... if you look back through the city... about every third building seems to be _exactly _uniform...?" Chrono asked, trailing off.

"They're all..."

"I think so. And I spotted a couple oddly textured sections of road that could be deployment sites for drone defenses. Remember that giant cannon drone they used on Dysval?" He asked. "No wonder they're confident; the pretty architecture aside, this entire planet is a fortress, and an insanely well-armed one. If this defense grid isn't just restricted to this city, if it's planet-wide... I honestly don't know if our fleet could even get close. This kind of ordinance would tear us to pieces."

"Which is why they didn't just bring us straight to the palace. They wanted us to notice that and lose confidence. Don't fall for it." Lindy said. "Also, everyone else went inside already, so you should maybe stop standing out here whispering."

"Eep!" Nanoha said, eloquently.

You see? She and Fate really _were_ a lot alike in many ways.

* * *

Vita whistled softly. "Okay, this is nice." She admitted.

Either the Void must have had a preservative effect on those things it didn't kill or the cleaning robots were superb, because the palace interior was very nearly immaculate and by far the most expensive-looking building any of them had ever seen. Pieces of art hung were evenly spaced along every wall; not merely paintings, but tapestries and sculptures, most of which appeared to have some precious metal or gem worked into them (and in many cases among some of the more lavish sculpture, seemed to be carved of nothing _but _them). The floors were silver-streaked black marble, the pillars were delicately carved with lovely floral patterns and inlaid with what appeared to be platinum... the entire interior of the structure brought to mind a massive museum as much as it did a royal palace.

Yuuno was drooling.

This was not exaggeration in any way.

"As you see, it was a customary, though not required, tradition for new member worlds to submit a work of art to the royal gallery." Amaterasu said, still enjoying her role as tour guide far too much, "These were almost always among the most priceless pieces each world had to offer... though not always, and indeed the exceptions were some of the most valued for their unique nature. For instance, Al Tiel contributed a small tree worth nothing more than the wood it was made of, as their culture considered the natural world to be the only true 'art'; the current Twilight King immediately had their planet's forests declared a nature preserve, he was so amused by the sentiment. To your left and right you see the main gallery segments; with over 10,000 member worlds at the height of the Empire, several entire new wings had to be added to the gallery to hold all the submissions. And as we walk, please note the engraved pattern on the ceiling above..."

"Does she ever stop talking...?" Signum muttered.

"Nope." Susanoo muttered back. "Especially not when someone listens."

"Oh, this is just... art is not my personal specialty, but if I could have a few hours alone here to take image-scans and catalog artist names and completion dates..." Yuuno said, unable to keep his eyes still for a moment.

"Well, she has that..." Nanoha said with a slightly embarrassed chuckle.

"It's nice to have someone else to appreciate the art..." Tsukuyomi said. "So many don't."

"Oh, are you an art-lover, Tsukuyomi?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes and no... I've never cared much for the traditional artist community, but I like looking at interesting works and I'm told I always enjoyed painting." Tsuku said wistfully.

"You're... you're _told _you always...?" Nanoha asked in confusion.

"I was told what?" Tsukuyomi asked.

"... ... ... ..." Nanoha said. She chose to take it as a good sign that Tsukuyomi was speaking in her direction, even if it was mostly to confuse her.

"And _here!_" Amaterasu said with a flourish. "The climax of our tour, the royal conference chamber, used alike for cabinet meetings and diplomatic negotiations

"Welcome, all. Her Royal Majesty, Enlil Te Larsea the Third, the current reigning Queen of Twilight, will see you now."

In stark contrast to the lavish palace, the conference hall was simple and elegant. The table was made of a dark, polished hardwood, and the chairs were comfortable-looking, and that was... about it.

Seated across the room, at the head of the table and the right hand, were two figures. The one to the side was recognizable instantly; Precia, looking somewhat the worse for wear. Her skin was pale and ragged, her usual outfit was replaced by a simple gray dress, implying she did not have the power to maintain her Barrier Jacket, and in general she looked almost as bad as when Fate had seen her fall in the Garden. As Fate had expected, the woman's eyes were lit up with loathing... though unusually, not for Fate herself. Her venom-filled glare was split almost perfectly between Lindy (who, to Fate's shock and, she had admit, amusement, waved cheerfully at her in response)... and oddly enough, the bizarre figure next to her, at the head of the table.

It was covered, completely, in a heavy gray cloak. The cloak itself appeared to be silk or a similar, very fine, material, and was clasped at the neck with a silver clasp set with a large diamond. But more than anything, Fate couldn't help but notice how _small _it was; even seated, obviously shorter than Precia. The hands peeking out from the cloak were small and delicate as well, no larger than Fate's own. _A child...?_

"Greetings, former enemies. As the Twilight Queen, it is both my duty and my privilege to welcome you to our newly restored home. Be welcome on my world and in my palace, and know that so long as you are here under flag of truce no harm shall come to you." The figure said in a high, clear tone. She had a trace of an accent not shared by her knights, but it was subtle and did not interfere with the clarity of her words. Fate blinked regardless... something was _strange _about that voice. She couldn't tell what it was, but something...

"What the...?" Lindy muttered.

With a start, Fate's eyes turned to her adoptive mother. Lindy... _Lindy!_... was utterly shocked, and she wasn't the only one. Casting her eyes about, nearly every member of the diplomatic party seemed to be in some state of confusion.

"Now, then... simply having guests would be exciting enough, but more than that, though, my Knights have brought back to me nothing but tales of your bravery and determination; even though it was directed against my agents, these are qualities that I can respect. So please, all of you, be seated. We have much to discuss, and I have every reason to believe that we will be able to reach a mutually beneficial conclusion to this entire messy situation." Enlil said, gesturing to the empty seats with a delicate hand. "Would you care for refreshments? We have little enough at the moment, but water and some light fare should be quite possib-"

"Pardon me, your Majesty." Lindy said. "But might I confirm something before we begin talks?"

Enlil paused. "I do not appreciate being interrupted, Admiral, but as you are not a subject, I shall allow it this once." She said, her tone slightly cooling.

"Would you please," Lindy said, briefly pausing as if to decide on her wording... or as if she was afraid of the answer. "Would you please allow me to ask _why _this particular group was chosen to be ambassadors, here?"

Enlil's face was not visible, but the slight smile shone through in her next words. "Why, for the reasons I just said. I have heard nothing but favorable stories of you from my servants, and I wished to meet such interesting children personally, see them with my own eyes. Most particularly in young Fate. The estranged daughter of my _dear _ally Precia, I believe? I was _quite _curious to meet little Fate."

Precia said nothing. But the hatred was rolling off her in waves. And now Fate had a question... why would Mother ally herself with someone she so clearly despised? She thought to ask this, but it simply wasn't what came out of her lips when she opened them to speak.

"Why... why me?" Fate asked. The air in the room was so tense it was like a physical force, above and beyond even the pervading chill of the darkened world.

Enlil pulled back the hood of her cloak of office and said, "Curiosity, as I said. I have been somewhat interested in meeting you ever since I learned of your existence, which your mother quite cruelly kept from me. I am _very _curious about your circumstances, my dear."

And then Fate understood. She understood why her mother was working under these people. She understood what could have coerced Precia... _Precia Testarossa!... _into a life of servitude. She understood why mother would hate this woman so thoroughly, and at the same time be so totally unwilling to do anything to oppose her.

The Twilight Queen's voice... the voice had seemed so oddly familiar because, slight accent aside, it was _her own voice. _

"A... Alicia...?"_  
_

"After all," Enlil said, as the stunned Fate watched her own lips curl into an amused smirk. "We're practically sisters."

* * *

**Author's Note: Hee, hee, hee. Before anyone cries foul, read back through the story. I _did _hint at the end there, more than once. **

**Congrats to Sunder the Gold for being the first person to figure it out. And mupetersas for being the second. **

**And congrats to me for having hints subtle enough that only two people figured it out on their own. **


	30. Rebirth and Reconquista

**Chapter 30: Rebirth and Reconquista**

"How..." Chrono gasped.

"No..." Nanoha said.

"Huh." Vita said in a totally unsurprised tone. "Weird."

Signum's eyes slightly narrowed.

"Why is everyone looking so surprised? It's just Lil." Susanoo said. He then continued, "OUCH! What did I do?" as Tsukuyomi elegantly and discreetly kicked him in the shin.

Fate was so white she might have been a ghost.

Understandably, the majority of the room was focused on the sudden doppelganger of one of their own appearing in the last possible place that one should have been.

Only Lindy's eyes were elsewhere, watching her little girl swaying on her feet, clearly unsure of what to do or even think. Without a word, she stepped forward to hold Fate's shoulders, guiding her to a nearby chair.

"Mother…" Fate said softly, her tone suggesting she didn't know if she was awake or not.

Lindy lightly stroked her hair, not saying a word, but smiling warmly. She then turned back to Enlil and, in a voice of pure ice, she said, "_Explain_."

"We'll get no work done at all until I do, I assume?" Enlil asked.

Lindy did not grace this with a reply.

"Well, then... I suppose we can take some time out for a tale or two. It started as all stories worth telling do…"

* * *

_**One Year Earlier…**_

Pain.

There was no other sensation for Precia Testarossa, no other feeling. Not anger at the interfering fools who had humbled her, not sorrow at the second loss of her child, not the confusion of falling though an inexplicable world of darkness nor the chill of her final, and most likely terminal, destination.

There was nothing but pain.

She coughed up blood, more out of reflex than any conscious decision to clear her throat. She could barely breathe, and certainly not speak. She clung to the tube containing Alicia's remains because she had been holding it when she fell and was now clamped on far too tightly to let go without the aid of a prybar. No thought more complex than 'it hurts' filled her mind. Her Barrier Jacket flickered pitifully, battered by the lethal energy that permeated the Void; her disease tearing her body apart from within, the storm of dark power tearing it apart from without.

Precia was dying. Of this there could be no doubt. It would take an act of God to keep her alive at this point.

Or something very much like that.

* * *

Yggdrasil was often underestimated.

It was understandable… the computer was unfailingly polite and obedient. Polite, obedient people (or in this case, things) tend to be ignored at best and stepped on at worst. People tended to ignore Yggdrasil, back when there had been people on Al Sethis to do that ignoring.

But in reality, Yggdrasil was possibly the single most dangerous sentient creature in all of existence, if one took the time to think about it. Al Sethis was probably the most heavily armed world in recorded history, and there was not one single machine on it that Yggdrasil could not override. The master computer commanded this world, and the fact that the Royal Family commanded it in turn hardly changed that fact. Added to this was access to the accumulated knowledge of an empire that had spanned countless worlds, more raw information than any single being could have learned in a dozen lifetimes.

So yes, Yggdrasil was polite, and obedient. It just also happened to be far closer to a 'god' than anything in the Royal Guard, no matter what the combat units had been called. But because it was polite and obedient, people ignored it; an impressive feat, considering that its consciousness was basically everywhere a person could possibly go on the world of Al Sethis, but then, oxygen was also everywhere and people typically didn't think about that either. When something is all around you, you tend not to think to hard about it. It just _is. _

But the fact remained… Yggdrasil was not something to be underestimated. And so, when it came time for some remnant of the Infinite Empire to shake the universe once again, it only made sense that Yggdrasil would be the entity to put events into motion.

The machine did not react with any of the emotions that an organic being might have when it encountered something new. Not hope, nor joy, nor panic, nor even true curiosity. It simply put all of its considerable resources to use in the task of securing and exploiting this new subject with cold detachment.

The dimensional rift had closed as quickly as it had opened; sensory data had been acquired and could be analyzed later. What mattered now was the lasting results of the unusual incursion.

It was not the first time that a dimensional rift had opened into Al Sethis, but it _was _the first time that anything living had come through. The life signs were faint, so faint that the drone which had initially detected the incursion could not accurately pick them up, but Yggdrasil had other options. The initial detection had come at the hands of a repair drone, with sensors specialized for detection of energy, mechanical systems. The security drone Yggdrasil sent to collect the samples after it took over the investigation, however, needed to be able to find living things with great accuracy, and there _was _a heartbeat in one of the subjects.

The other was more useful, though.

It was ironic… the dead body was, in most ways healthier than the living one. The 'living' body was in the throes of multi-system organ failure, multiple tumors, a cocktail of prescription drugs running through her system. It was not impossible for her to be saved, but complete regeneration of all organ systems and gene re-sequencing to remove the underlying causes of her (many) illnesses would be needed. Complete recovery would require months. The corpse, on the other hand, had been killed by fairly simple trauma, and preserved almost perfectly at the moment of death. From a medical perspective, the greatest problem with her was that she was brain-dead.

From Yggdrasil's perspective, that was the best part.

Medicinal nanomachines were injected to the corpse, interfacing with damaged cells, deleting the damaged cells and settling in to replace them in function. Organs long inactive were brought back to working condition, muscles that had atrophied forcibly exercised. Blood that had not pumped in years flowed freely through newly rejuvenated veins.

It wasn't bringing back the dead, not really. For starters, the damage that could be repaired was fairly limited. The nanomachines were an acceptable substitute for true healthy tissue, but only to a certain point. A more damaged corpse would be beyond restoration, as would one that had actually begun to decay. And of course, the greatest weakness remained… the brain would always be a sore point.

Replacing damaged cells was not the same as repairing them. With most organs that was not a problem, but with the brain… these new brain cells would have none of the information that had been contained on the original organ of the patient. And so, even if the lethal damage was light enough to be repaired and treatment was begun quickly enough… it would not matter if too many brain cells died. The revived patient would be a blank slate.

Which was a problem if you wanted what had been on the slate before, but if you had something new to write there…

Memories were electronic. The brain was just an organic computer. And if it could store memories organically, then it stood to reason that memories could be stored in more traditional formats as well. And the Infinite Empire was nothing if not pragmatic; they understood that, on occasion, you might need the specific expertise of someone who was not technically alive. And so, they had found a way to keep that expertise intact.

The nanomachine treatment being used to restore the body to physical health was not bringing back the dead. That was what the Cradle of God was for. A massive database, on which the minds or many, many great individuals had been carefully copied, preserved at the height of their accomplishments in the event they were needed by their people once again. Scientists, military leaders, artists… and of course, the great kings and queens of the past.

Yggdrasil existed to preserve the Infinite Empire, and it had been unable to do so; lost in darkness, unable to act on its most basic function for 500,000 years. Now, after so long, a potential path to restoration has presented itself, but to have any chance of success, the full powers available to the Twilight Throne would need to be harnessed… a power only one individual could draw upon.

The medical drone surgically installed the uplink port into the waiting, restored body, and Yggdrasil began the process to restore a proper leader to what remained of its Empire.

_**Current Dimensional Coordinates: Void**_

_**Current Temporal Coordinates: Ashra 7, Hour 12:11:54, Imperial Calendar Year 507,132.**_

_**Upload Status: Attempt #0001 Unsuccessful. Data Corrupted, File lost.**_

_**Upload Status: Attempt #0002 Unsuccessful. Data Corrupted, File lost.**_

_**Upload Status: Attempt #0003 Unsuccessful. Pattern rejected, sample unsuitable.**_

_**Upload Status: Attempt #0004 Successful. Compatible Pattern Located. Data Corruption Minimal, File successfully recovered.**_

_**Upload Complete. Unit Activation Complete.**_

"**Good Afternoon, Master."**

And in a dim building, in an empty city, on a world wrapped in perpetual darkness, a woman that had been dead for far longer than she had ever been alive opened unfamiliar eyes… and smiled. "Good afternoon," she said. "Now, could you please tell me what happened while I was asleep?"

"**I am afraid that I have nothing good to report, your majesty." **Yggdrasil said to the body of Alicia Testarossa, that carried within its mind the recently downloaded copy of Enlil Te Larsea III, former (and, with her rebirth, current) Queen of Twilight.

"… ah. I am dead, then. I assumed it to be so, considering that when I lay down to have my mind copied, I was dressed." Enlil said, more dryly than one would have expected given that she had just confirmed herself to be a copy of a dead woman. She looked down on her form, covered only by a thin blanket, and noticed another factor. "… also, I was an adult. Tell me, isn't the typical practice to use the bodies of condemned criminals for these resurrections? I seriously doubt this young lady did anything horrible enough to warrant execution, if only because I doubt she has the upper body strength to accomplish any of the really horrible crimes."

"**I am afraid that this vessel was chosen for you by necessity, rather than convenience." **Yggdrasil said. And then, since it had very little sense of tact, it continued. "**Our current coordinates are within the Dimensional Void, your majesty. This body was chosen because no other viable options were available." **

Enlil, who had begun to sit up, fell backwards. "The Void? Then… we are on a scout ship? This is a remote terminal, and you aren't the real Yggdrasil?"

"… **I am afraid not, your majesty." **Yggdrasil said. "**Your current position is within the Cradle of God on the throneworld." **

Enlil sat in silence, her mind half-blank, half-struggling not to cry. _It's this body… children's hormone levels, brain chemistry. My natural response to trauma is to cry and beg for my mother. _That was enough to shock her back to something resembling coherence. "And… and the population? I… I assume this child was used because not many are left."

"**… there were no survivors, your majesty." **Yggdrasil said. "**And more importantly, there was no reason to attempt an overwrite with the resources we had available, before the last available vessels became unusable." **

"… because all conventional logic would suggest there was no way out." Enlil said dully. It was getting harder and harder to keep those tears in.

"**Affirmative**"

"Then why now? Why bother? I'm excellent with magical theory, but hardly the greatest the Empire ever knew. And if none of _them _could discover a method of controlled void travel, then…"

**"The Method has been determined, your Majesty, hence your resurrection." **

"Excuse me…?"

"**Majesty, the throneworld has been Voidbound for nearly 500,000 years. This child arrived only recently, deceased but repairable."**

This time Enlil did cry, though not much; the shock overcame the sadness for the most part. "Five… five hundred…" She gasped, tears in her eyes. That long, without the throneworld, without the royal family or the guardians…

The Empire had collapsed. It was certain, _beyond _certain. The life's work of her entire ancestry, that they had shed their blood to build from the destroyed. "Everything… it's all gone… it's…"

"**Focus, your Majesty**." Yggdrasil said. And against all odds, she did; something in that flat, mechanical tone forcing her mind, however temporarily, out of the mire of despair. "**From even the most crushing defeat, we have the capacity to rebuild so long as Al Sethis remains active. For 500,000 years, it has not been. This has changed. The potential now exists to restore the throne, and that throne must **_**not **_**be empty. Only the Twilight Queen can achieve the needed results. The fate of the Empire depends on you, Majesty." **

"Of course. Of course…" Enlil whispered. She closed her eyes briefly, gathered her thoughts. "Obviously, this girl got here somehow, and she got here relatively intact. I am assuming we have scans, samples of the landing site…"

"**Another individual who arrived with her is currently undergoing intensive therapy in the recovery wing. She is badly damaged, and recovery will be slow, but she has a chance of survival."**

"… she was _alive_? Really alive, not merely restored like this one?"

"**Affirmative."**

Enlil digested this new information with something resembling real happiness.

For the first time, she actually felt they perhaps were not _completely _doomed.

"From this point on," She said, "You have one and only one goal. _Keep that woman alive_. At _any _cost. We _need _what is in her head."

The small child's stomach rumbled.

"Also, I believe I am in need of nourishment. See if any food synthesizers are active, and if not, repair one."

"**Your prior orders stated I was to have one and only…"**

"_Food. Now."_

"**Yes, your Majesty.**"

* * *

A few hours and some extremely unsatisfying processed rations later, Enlil stood over the strange woman who may have held the key to her ultimate salvation.

"I cannot believe she is not dead." Enlil said bluntly, looking at the woman's life signs. "Her heart barely beats, her kidneys are essentially nonfunctional, her lungs are a mass of tumors and her liver isn't much better…"

"**Her recovery is possible, but uncertain."** Yggdrasil confirmed.

"I know. It's wonderful, isn't it?" Enlil agreed.

"**I do not understand, Master."**

"This woman's health is such that it would be easier to kill her than _not _kill her. And yet, she survived a fall into the Void." Enlil said. In spite of herself, she smiled. "Her method _works_. It is not perfect, or I doubt she would have ended up _here_. But it _works_. We just need to… fine tune it."

"**Ah.**" The computer said. "**Might I say, your Majesty, it is pleasant to see you in such good spirits." **

"Laugh so you don't cry." Enlil said softly, thought in reality she _did _feel a bit better. Plans were beginning to form. Some hope had emerged. The woman's eyes were opening and—

Wait. What?

"She's _awakening…_" Enlil whispered. It was impossible. The woman should be _dead_, it was a miracle she was not. She most certainly should not be awake. Just what exactly was keeping her going?

Enlil hovered over the woman, looking down at her in awe. Well, it was one miracle already, so another might not be out of the question.

"Hello…" She said. "Can you hear me? Do you speak my language?"

The woman blinked a few times… and her face took on the most intense look of _joy _that Enlil had ever seen.

"Alicia…" She said, reaching up a hand that should not have been able to move and stroking Enlil's face. She then said several words in a rather strange language that Enlil did not recognize before again saying "Alicia…", clearly the name of the young girl.

_Oh, Hells_. Enlil supposed she should have considered the two would probably know each other. This might get complicated.

"Ah. Yggdrasil, I don't know this language. Can you translate? We need to explain that I'm not who she thinks I am." Enlil said, gently moving the woman's hand away from her.

She probably shouldn't have done that.

* * *

Precia watched through a haze, her mind struggling to accept what she was seeing. Alicia… her daughter. Dressed oddly, perhaps, but _her_, it had to be her. But she turned away Precia's hand. Turned down Precia's love. _Spurned _her…

_Fate._

Of course. That was the only explanation… it was Fate, it had to be Fate, was _always_ Fate, that vile, filthy little_ thing _ruining her life _again_, building her hopes and breaking them down.

Fate.

Fate.

Fate.

_Fate_.

She continued to speak, words Precia didn't understand. Perhaps it was merely the rising fury that filled her mind, blinding her behind a red haze. She didn't care _what _Fate was saying.

She only cared about making sure that Fate never said anything again.

Enlil was half-way through requesting Yggdrasil find a language training program for the woman when she lunged.

Sharp nails dug into her throat as the older woman's weight bore down on her. The woman hissed something she couldn't understand as she clamped her hands around Enlil's throat, her eyes wide with madness and her hands crushing with a strength her weakened body should not have allowed.

Enlil was in a rather awkward position. Logically speaking she should be able to vaporize this woman, or any woman, with a thought. But it was _really hard _to manage even that much when you had no air in your lungs and your ears were ringing from hitting your head on the floor and blackness was beginning to creep in the edges of your vision.

The woman hissed something Enlil couldn't understand, but she could understand the _bile _in it. The woman's eyes were black pits of utter madness, her teeth clenched so tightly that blood mixed into the foam leaking from the corner of her mouth.

_Not… good… _Enlil thought, displaying the incredible ability for understatement that had made her such an amazing diplomat. This woman was insane, and Enlil was restricted to the physical strength of a sick child and the mental prowess of someone with no oxygen getting to her brain.

"_Fake…_" Precia growled.

"Gggggk…" Enlil gurgled, a sort of strangled attempt to remind the madwoman that _she did not understand her language. _

The darkness creeping in around the edges of Enlil's vision began to worsen. And somehow, in her muddled mind, the only thought that could emerge was, _Well, at least I already have some experience being dead…_

The woman's body jerked, and her eyes glazed over. The sudden release of pressure and the sudden return of oxygen to her world were jarring, and she reacted as any person would; massaging her aching throat and taking several deep, grateful breaths.

She felt something wet on her palm. That madwoman had broken the skin…

"Yggdrasil…" She gasped, the act making her throat burn. "Good shot."

"**Thank you, your Majesty."**

She cast her eyes on the fallen Precia, looking at the half-dozen syringes buried in her back that the medical drones had fired. "Wouldn't that be a lethal dose?"

"**I felt the need to incapacitate her as quickly as possible, Majesty."**

Enlil sighed. "Well… pump it out of her blood, if you don't mind. Acquire a language tutor program, something to stop her speaking gibberish. And just in case she manages to go insane again, make sure she is firmly restrained for the duration of her treatments." She felt the blood dripping down her throat once again. "… and speaking of her treatments, if there is some way you can be certain they _hurt_, do so_._"

"**Yes, your Majesty."**

* * *

Precia did not know when she had fallen into Hell.

Her mind remained largely unable to focus, but only because she was drugged on a daily basis. She was kept in a small cell, 'fed' only via IV. Each morning she was dragged from her cell, half-delirious, and subjected to several hours of what seemed to her to be largely meaningless torture. (In reality, it was proof that Yggdrasil would follow instructions, even bad ones, to the letter. The treatments, many of which involved exceedingly painful tumor extractions, were done with the absolute minimum dosage of painkiller). And as if the fire in her blood wasn't enough, each day Fate… or, and Precia had calmed enough to recognize this, someone who _looked _like Fate… stood watching over the procedure, adding a layer of humiliation and rage to the physical agony.

But over the weeks, and then months, Precia began to notice something very confusing. Specifically, that several months had _passed… _and she was still alive. She had pressed Fate so hard in the hunt for the Jewel Seeds not merely out of malice; in truth, she had predicted only three to four _weeks _left for her life. And yet nearly triple that had passed, and she was still alive. And in fact… except when she was strapped to the table, screaming in agony…

She felt _better_. Slowly, but surely, over the course of the long torturous months, much better. She coughed less, her limbs felt less heavy.

Precia was a highly intelligent woman, but she wasn't sure what to make of this.

As usual, the door to her chambers opened. But rather than the usual, cold drones come to take her for several hours of brutal torment, the figure that stepped in was a small, cloaked girl…

Fate?

The girl who could only have been Fate strode in purposefully and pulled back the hood of her cloak. Precia resisted the urge to struggle against her bonds and claw the little brat's eyes out; there was a powerful AMF field over her cot and the shackles were stronger than she could pull free with only human strength.

And thus, it was to her great surprise when the girl said something in that strange language she spoke, and the restraints released. She could feel even the AMF vanish, though her confiscated Device was nowhere to be seen.

Precia considered her options. She was considerably more lucid now, with her health largely restored, than she had been in some time. She had come to the conclusion that she did not _truly _comprehend much of what was going on. For starters, this girl did not _act _like Fate, but there was nobody else she could be. And this language she didn't understand, this setting she did not know… so much was incomprehensible, not least of which her own sudden good health. There was so much she simply didn't understand. Perhaps restraint would be the best option.

The girl stared at her with cold disdain.

Cold disdain for her, in her own daughter's eyes… no, the eyes of the _thing _that looked like her daughter…

Restraint became unimportant.

Precia Testarossa was a mage of the highest caliber, and she did not need a device to exert her will over the forces of magic. She raised her hand, her fingers outstretched like talons and violet arcs dancing between them. The briefest gesture and a bolt of violet lightning sizzled through the air, directly at those cold red eyes; the malice in the air was almost more brutally hostile than the lightning itself (And the lightning, obviously, was extremely hostile, on account of being lightning).

It was also a waste of electricity.

In a flash of crimson light, the bolt of electric death vanished, and a wave of force slammed into Precia's chest like a fist the size of a wrecking ball. The woman was sent flying across the room to impact brutally against the wall and land in a crumpled heap on the floor.

_That was… Fate couldn't…_ Precia thought, struggling to her feet, and…

If the first blow had been a fist, the second was a sledgehammer. The entire right side of her body went numb as something exploded in her right shoulder, slamming her again into the wall so hard she left a dent in the thin metal.

For what seemed like the thousandth time over the months of her captivity, the world went black. Her last thought was surprisingly simple.

_Red…_

Enlil sighed and lowered her hand, a dim scarlet aura still shimmering around her palm. "Yggdrasil? I'm afraid I lost my temper a bit with our guest. Please prepare the medical drones again."

* * *

Enlil waited a few days before making another effort to communicate. She didn't let the woman out of her restraints this time. She could obviously defend herself, but she preferred not _having _to. If she accidentally killed the woman it was all over.

She looked down on the woman who, as the only other person on Al Sethis, would have been by default her least favorite person in the world even if she _hadn't _made two separate attempts to murder her.

"I know you can't understand me." She said, looking down at the bound woman staring at her in undisguised hate. "So let's see what we can do about that."

She waved one hand, and a screen materialized in the air. A series of symbols appeared on it, accompanied by a voice pronouncing various vowel and consonant sounds.

Precia's obvious hate was briefly interrupted by incredulity.

"Don't look at me like that. We have no idea what language you speak, so we needed the most basic program we could get." Enlil said. "It's for teaching small children. It will get our alphabet down, let you begin learning to… … why am I talking to you? You can't understand me. I'm going to leave this running and go do something worth doing."

Precia sat in silence, as the screen continued to display a symbol and make a letter sound. After a short time, it began stating what were apparently short words.

Precia gazed without enthusiasm upon a picture of a fruit that was apparently called a 'Pirak' and which started with a letter whose odd shape made her eyes hurt.

_This is like… _Precia thought. Yes, it was obviously not a language she understood, but it was clearly similar to something she herself had bought to help teach Alicia the alphabet years ago, complete with bright colors and an annoyingly cheery narrator's voice.

"She is doing this to humiliate me, isn't she?" Precia asked of the empty room.

"I wonder how long it will take her to realize I picked the most childish one I could, to humiliate her?" Enlil asked, observing Precia from the other side of the scrying window into her cell.

"**I couldn't venture a guess, your Majesty."**

"I imagine around the time that Porko the Talking Iceboar begins instructing her on the proper use of vowels." Enlil said with slightly darker satisfaction than she should have had.

"… **Possible, your Majesty." **The computer had no sense of humor to speak of, but it had been around people long enough to pick up some details.

"In any event, how goes the other project I assigned you to?" Enlil asked, waving a hand to close the screen. A slight quaver entered her voice. "Did… did you find them?"

"**All three units have taken extreme damage… during the events of the Fall, they were pushed to the limits of their ability, and were on the front lines of every relief effort they could manage."**

"Yes, yes they would be…" Enlil whispered fondly. "Please… good news?"

"**Their cores are functional, and repair is quite possible, your Majesty. It will take some time to fully regenerate all three units, but the Royal Guard will be active again before a year has passed. We will have an exemplary combat unit for any military action you need to undertake, Master." **

Enlil shed a tear again, but this time it was done with a smile on her face. "Yes, of course. Soldiers. That's the important thing."

And she just kept smiling, despite herself.

"**Also, the prisoner has attempted to strike the language tutor program with a bolt of lightning, but was prevented from doing so by her restraints. I believe the mascot character you mentioned earlier offended her."**

This did not decrease the smile.

* * *

Despite the presence of an extremely annoying anthropomorphic white pig of some sort repeatedly stressing the importance of vowels in a language she was only barely beginning to comprehend, life improved for Precia from that point on.

The language training programs ran for roughly eight hours a day, every day, attempting to drive the knowledge through Precia's head by force, apparently. And as… demeaning… as it might have been to be taught information suitable for a toddler, Precia had to admit it helped if only because it gave her mind _something _to do. She had nothing better to do, no-one to talk to, no indication of whether Alicia's body was still intact or what Fate…

_It can't be Fate, Fate's magical color was yellow. That girl's is red. She can't be Fate and if she isn't Fate then she must be… _

No. No, she couldn't think about that now. Just focus on the screen, on cold, hard data. That was how one stayed sane in trying times; find a project and embrace it. Total devotion to her work was, she felt, the only thing that had kept her from descending into madness long ago.

The irony of this thought was completely and totally lost on Precia, but honestly that was probably for the best.

And so she learned, studied; moved from the painfully obnoxious boarlike thing to tutorials meant for people capable of tying their own shoes, and then back to programs for people who couldn't do so (By which she meant University-level courses. Precia's memories of taking over the teaching of most of her courses once she achieved a greater understanding of the subject matter than her professors. They really would give a doctorate to anyone these days). Her progress was achingly slow, as far as she could tell… it took her nearly three months to achieve basic fluency! And this was working all day. She really must still be a bit ill, despite all of the treatments.

"**Based on your progress through the language files, I estimate you are currently capable of speaking Imperial Common at the level of a university student." **Said the computer which seemed to be omnipresent on this world. "**Based on my personal observations, I believe you to be considerably more skilled**."

"Most likely." Precia said, wrapping her tongue around the still-unfamiliar syllables. It was a rather blunt language, frankly; standard Midchildan was noticeably more complex. And yet it had still taken three months! Pathetic.

"**Excellent. Her Majesty will see you now."**

"By her Majesty you mean Fa… the young lady who oversaw my 'treatment'."

"**Correct. Her Majesty Enlil Te Larsea III, former and current Queen of Twilight, current Administrative Overseer of this world." **Yggdrasil confirmed. "**Her Majesty required you have a sufficient grasp of the local language to discuss magical theory, which has occurred. Now that the language barrier has been overcome, the next phase of our plan can commence."**

"Which is…_" _

"**That would be for Her Majesty to discuss with you in person, I believe. The lights on the hall floor should direct you to her, where you can discuss the situation further." **

"I am being allowed to move throughout the complex?" Precia asked.

"**Her Majesty's exact words were, 'We are Voidbound. There is nowhere for her to run'."**

Precia could hardly argue with that. And besides, at this point… there were questions that needed answers.

She followed the trail of lights on the floor down several hallways, and down several flights of stairs. As she walked her eyes drank in every detail with a scientist's passion for information… the complex was clearly ancient, but in shockingly good condition and almost wastefully wealthy. This wasn't a 'complex', it was a palace. Whoever had dwelled here in the prime of this civilization was clearly important.

After a walk that Precia suspected was longer than it had to be (she was fairly certain she went in at least one circle), she finally followed the trail of glittering lights into a chamber she had not before seen. The doors opened for her approach, and standing alone inside…

"You can understand me, then?" Enlil asked.

Precia looked around the room, attempting to divine its purpose and not able to immediately do so. It seemed largely bare, save for some instrumentation she would need to study embedded in the walls, and three vaguely human sized chunks of a dark crystalline substance that seemed to float under their own power tucked into crèches throughout.

Precia narrowed her eyes. "My grasp of your language isn't perfect, but yes."

Enlil chuckled. "Not perfect? Not even an accent. Better than some natives I've heard."

"Well enough to have figured some things out, let's say." Precia said. "… you are not my daughter."

"I am not. Yggdrasil has already told you my name, I believe… yours is?"

"… you are not a copy." Precia said, her blood running cold.

"You _will _tell me your name or you will be hurt." Enlil said mildly.

"Precia. Precia Testarossa." Precia snapped impatiently. _"Are you a copy of my daughter?"_

"Unless the body you brought with you was a clone of this daughter you speak of, then I am not." Enlil said, sensing no other topic would be discussed until this was confirmed.

"… what have you done?" Precia growled, her fists clenching involuntarily.

"Nothing by choice." Enlil said. "You think I _enjoy _being a child? Physical weakness, hormones that don't work the way they should, and I believe I am on the cusp of puberty. I have already _done that, _and it wasn't terribly enjoyable then. There were only two bodies available, we used the more expedient choice."

Precia barely kept from lashing out again, her hand stayed only by the knowledge that slaughtering this… this _abomination _in front of her would only harm Alicia. As before, she grasped for something to keep her mind focused; gathering information. "What, then? What do you want? You healed me, taught me, asked to meet. Why?"

Enlil sighed, and ran a hand along one of the black gems. "It really is sad, isn't it? This world was once the shining jewel of the Dimensional Sea, the center of culture and civilization across the known universe. The Heart of Infinity. Now… a necropolis. A wasteland."

"… Al Hazard?" Precia asked, not quite daring to hope.

"_Not hardly_." Enlil said, with more venom than she'd used when Precia had tried to _kill _her. "Why would you even think that?"

"The purpose of the ritual that brought me here was to seek the lost world of Al Hazard. I had hoped this w—"

"It _isn't_." Enlil snapped.

"I see. But… if you were able to restore my health and… to make Alicia…"

"Usable? It wasn't hard, the work of a few hours. It's not like she's alive, though. The memories couldn't be salvaged." Enlil said.

_Maybe not by you, but you've accomplished what I couldn't. _Precia thought, hope mixing into her cocktail of anger. _With the research from Project F and a healthy, viable body, it might just be possible-!_

It was a bit disconcerting, coming to this realization. She had more _hope _than she'd had in years, her greatest ambition now within reach… and yet it somehow made her all the more furious. She finally had a _real chance _and this _thing _was standing in her way! She wished this girl _had _been Fate… at least Fate had merely been incompetent, not an active enemy.

"And what… do you plan… to do with her?" Precia growled.

"Everything." Enlil said.

She gestured at the black crystals, which burst into brilliance lighting the room with a sudden almost painful glow. The dank chamber felt suddenly heavy with raw magic… immense, intoxicating power flowing out from the sudden radiance. And behind it, barely visible humanoid figures, encased in the gems…

"This world," Enlil said. "Was once the Heart of Infinity. If you teach me how you got here… how to get _us _out of this void, it can be again. I will see the Infinite Empire rebuilt, at any cost, by any means."

"You seriously believe you can do this…?" Precia asked. _Impressive magic, but she speaks of challenging the entire Bureau in open combat! This woman is mad… _She thought.

Again… irony.

"Believe? Know. Your task is escape, what comes next is nothing less than what I was born and bred for." Enlil said coldly. "We are the Children of Twilight, and this universe is ours by right of blood and conquest. I care not who inhabits them now, these worlds belong to _us _so long as even one son or daughter of the Empire draws breath_. _

"Our battle continues, woman. The Infinity Crusade is not over. It is _never _ Infinite Empire never surrenders. We never give up. We never die, but rise again and again until all who oppose us are dust on the wind. And though we have fallen further than ever before, I am here and I _will _see us rise once more. And make no mistake… _I have the power to do it._"

"Stirring." Precia said. She wasn't confident in the woman's claims, but recognized that now wasn't the time to say this. "And I should offer this aid to the woman who has defiled my daughter's body because…"

"Because once a restoration is achieved and a suitable infrastructure in place, I will have a wide choice of viable bodies to inhabit while I continue reconstruction." Enlil said. "You want this vessel back? Then help me until I don't need it anymore."

Precia mind raced in far too many directions for comfort. "A partnership?" She asked.

Enlil's expression told her all she needed to know. Not a partnership; servitude.

_She will give me Alicia back if I do everything I am told. She is using my daughter to blackmail me into her service. _

It was galling. Degrading. Alicia, her only child, her beloved daughter, was being _used_ as the whip to force Precia into virtual slavery. And on a practical level, she had no proof other than Enlil's word that Alicia would even be returned to her. But…

_But I swore to do anything… no depth is too low, no humiliation too horrible, no risk too great if it means bringing her back to me... if there is even the __**tiniest **__possibility…_

Enlil stood among the bared power of the ancients and looked down on Precia Testarossa. "I offer you the one and only path remaining to your daughter's salvation. What say you?"

And as much as the bile rose in her throat, she really had only one option…

_**One Year Later…**_

"She wasn't exactly the ideal servant, of course. She was still quite… prickly, shall we say. She had a tendency to throw inconveniences into operations at every turn. For some reason she has a great deal of hostility towards me." Enlil said mildly.

The silence was thick indeed.

"For… some… reason?" Nanoha said softly, her voice filled with more anger than most people ever had or ever would hear from her.

"I don't quite comprehend it, personally." Enlil said. "It's not as though I've harmed her daughter. Quite the opposite; little Alicia is closer to 'alive' than she has been in some time. And I will give her back once I'm done using this vessel, to let Precia do whatever she plans to do. It's an equitable arrangement."

The silence was thicker. It was Lindy who finally broke it.

"You were never a mother, were you?" she asked.

"Not during my life up to my memories being copied, no. Why do you ask?" Enlil said mildly.

"It shows."And with that, Lindy Harlaown, Mother of Two, gave her first and last glance of sympathy to Precia Testarossa.

Precia scowled in reply.


	31. The Infinity Crusade

**Chapter Thirty-one: The Infinity Crusade**

It was, oddly enough, the clearly unhappy Precia who broke the silence.

"If we're all finished walking down memory lane," She said. "Could we please move on with this? I prefer not to spend any more time in this company than I have to."

"I believe our guest has a point." Enlil said, smiling slightly. "We are, after all, here for a purpose. Shall we begin?"

"Begin _what?_" Nanoha whispered. "Miss Lindy, we can't really still be planning to…"

"Nanoha," Lindy said softly. "I'm sure we'll have our opportunity to share our thoughts as the discussion progresses, but for now I must ask that you please sit down. There are certain protocols to be followed, you understand."

"But…!"

"_Sit down_." Lindy said, letting a bit of iron creep into her tone. "Please. I understand how you feel, but now is not the time."

"Listen to her." Amaterasu purred. "Starting a fight here would be verrrrrrrry unwise, dears. We would have to be rough with you, and…" she idly flexed her fingers, allowing a tiny flicker of orange flame to dance between her fingers. "… on this world, we are capable of being much rougher than you're used to. Fun, right?"

Nanoha, being Nanoha, still looked very much like she intended to say something, but she chose a seat (next to Fate, of course) and took it without another word.

"Now then." Enlil said. "Down to business."

"Of course." Lindy said diplomatically. "You'll of course understand the delay. We were understandably rather shocked by your... appearance." She did not say _Because you planned it for the shock value, to throw us off our game. You think I don't see through you? They do not give out Admiralties in cereal boxes. I am not some sap for you to play like a violin,_ but it was implied.

Enlil smiled. "Of course. I understand how this must have been a shock for you all, and even more that the nature of our interactions to this point have been unpleasant for all involved. But it is my sincere belief that despite this, we can reach a mutually beneficial arrangement."

"Wouldn't bet on it." Vita murmured. "And bet even less that you care about the 'mutual'."

"Hee hee! Vi is silly." Susanoo said.

"Susa, you should not speak out of turn." Tsukuyomi said. "Nor insult our guests."

"Awww, it's okay! Vi and I are friends! Right Vi?"

"Screw you." Vita said.

"See? Pals!" Susanoo said.

Enlil's warm façade slightly faded. "Su. Sa. No. Oo."

"… I'll stop talking now."

Enlil sighed. "Please do forgive my Guardians. They're quite old, and were designed for ease of human interaction in order to function as bodyguards, constant companions. As a result, they have more autonomy than typical constructs and are occasionally… well, less formal than the situation warrants. I'm afraid they ended up a bit _too _human, in some ways."

Hayate, despite the circumstances, fought a smile. "That tends to happen."

Vita's eyes narrowed. "What does _that _mean?"

"In any event, they make up for it in other respects. Their loyalty is unquestionable and their power considerable," Enlil said, interjecting before Hayate could burst out laughing. "As you've seen."

Amaterasu grinned. "It's been a long, but amusing, road. I admit that I didn't much care for the effort involved at times, but they turned out to be such _charming _young ladies and gentlemen I ended up having a good time after all."

"… as I said, far too human. More human than humans, in all the ways which are most troublesome," Enlil said sadly. "I'm afraid I must insist on silence from everyone present, save the chief negotiators. The code for the moment is 'only speak when spoken to'."

"Yeah, you should all be qui-" Susanoo began.

"There are no words to describe how much that also applies to you." Enlil said.

Susanoo was quiet.

"Now, then." Enlil said, taking her seat. "We've already covered the _how _of our actions, but I believe the organization you represent had some questions concerning the _why_."

Lindy steepled her fingers. "I can hardly deny that. You have engaged in unprovoked violence against officers of this organization. You have activated unregistered Lost Logia, endangering…"

"Lost? Misplaced." Enlil said mildly. "The technology was _ours_. It's hardly a danger to anyone if we know how to work it, I think."

"You tore a hole in reality using this 'non-dangerous' technology." Chrono said. "Have you any idea of the risk you took? Your efforts could have easily resulted in a dimensional cascade, destroyed literally _everything_. You had to have known that."

Enlil shrugged. "Safeguards were, of course, in place. In the end, it was judged to be a risk worth taking."

The young man's eyes widened in visible fury, but his tone remained icy. "You felt that the possibility of universal annihilation was _worth taking?" _

"In comparison to the status quo? Yes." Enlil said. "Speaking quite frankly, I have studied the current state of dimensional civilization, and find it to be… unimpressive. The mindless fear of ancient weapons has slowed the progress of new development to a virtual crawl. The closest thing to a central government, your own Time-Space Administration Bureau, is shamefully corrupt, utterly inefficient, and refuses to even _attempt _to curtail the worst of the chaos, focusing only on the suppression of technology they refuse to even attempt to understand. And while you turn your backs, entire worlds locked in endless wars cry out for _order _with none to listen. Well, I'm listening. The Infinite Empire's divine mission has always been to quell that chaos, and I am not about to turn my back on that, nor on the people who so desperately need it."

Without looking, Lindy held up one hand before Nanoha could blurt out a rebuttal. "I was under the impression we were here to negotiate, not sling mud."

"We are. The TSAB is not." Enlil said.

"… excuse me?"

"The Time-Space Administration Bureau has… many issues. I noticed only the child thought to protest my charges?" She continued, smirking slightly in Nanoha's direction.

"The _chi-_" Nanoha began.

"_Nanoha_." Lindy said. The air froze with the word.

"The Bureau… they do not inspire confidence. You know this; they've turned on you in the past, more than once. They throw aside their own valuable servitors, betray their own ideals, and worst of all they are not even _effective _at their stated mission in between it! What I have in mind for them is not so much a 'negotiation' as it is an offer to save them from themselves." Enlil said coldly.

"… explain."

"I thought it was obvious." Enlil said. "Your librarian analyzed our Gate network, the intrusion was detected. Surely he must have noticed?"

As one, all heads turned to Yuuno.

"… what?" Yuuno asked, sinking a little deeper into his chair.

"The maps." Enlil said. "The map of our Empire. And the map of your Bureau. What did you notice about them?"

Yuuno's already rather pale face went positively white. "They… overlap. A lot."

"Completely." Enlil said coldly. "The overarching goal of the Infinite Empire was always nothing more nor less than the union of all worlds under one banner. A… long term goal, perhaps, but one we took seriously, and one which applies to time just as much as space. Once you are a member world, there is no secession, there is no withdrawal, there is, in short, no _leaving_. Those worlds that you claim to administer are ours by conquest or diplomacy; the means matter less than the fact that they were once united under our banner and we do not renounce our claim to them. Nor do we have any intention of abandoning our divine mandate to continue on that path.

"The Time-Space Administration Bureau can surrender and be part of that grand mission under my rule, or they can be swept aside. There is no other option for them."

Lindy opened her mouth.

"_There is no way we would ever accept that!" _Nanoha snapped.

"That took longer than I expected, honestly." Chrono muttered.

"What kind of person are you? How could you just… just talk about things like this like it's nothing?" Nanoha implored. "Taking people's bodies? Trying to conquer the whole _universe? _That's… that's not even possible! It's insane to even think of! And to actually try to _do_ it is just horrible!"

"What, exactly is so very horrible? The prospect of universal peace?" Enlil said mildly. "Such an ideal is not accomplished easily, child, nor without pain. It is a constant struggle. Or do you think you can just wave your hand and make everyone in the universe happy?"

"No, of course not, but you can't just make them do whatever you want, either! Don't they have a right to decide for themselves?"

"Do they have the _ability _to decide for themselves?" Enlil asked frankly. "Most people, when you get right down to it, want peace. Stability. But a few negative elements can destabilize entire worlds in the blink of an eye. Is it such a terrible concept that occasionally, peace must be force-fed? Is the safety of billions not worth that? The Infinite Empire does, perhaps, enforce our will on others. But only because they so consistently prove incapable of effectively governing themselves."

"And… and you just fall out of the sky and decide what's best for everyone in the universe?"

"Who better? You? I've read your file, Ms. Takamachi. A rather idyllic life, one might say. Loving family, prosperous business, caring friends. I can understand why you might balk at the prospect of someone enforcing their will upon your perfect little storybook life, but have you ever considered that maybe a child who has grown up in a war zone and thinking herself lucky to have one rancid meal each week might _welcome _someone… 'falling out of the sky' and making her world into a little less of a Hell?" Enlil snapped. "Pursuit of 'freedom' is a noble goal, I suppose, but if offered the choice I prefer to pursue peace, and the two goals are often mutually exclusive."

"And are we here to debate philosophy, or were we to be in negotiations?" Lindy asked.

"… ah, yes, of course. You are quite right, Admiral." Enlil said.

"And I'm not liking what I hear, bluntly. You are telling me that I have to go to my superiors and deliver both a declaration of war and demand for unconditional surrender?"

"More like… our refusal to allow an independent police force to operate in our territory, but yes." Enlil said. "And I don't think they'll be as torn up as you believe. Your masters do enjoy benefiting, and they will very much benefit from rule. I estimate between our understanding of the Lost Logia in your stores and the technology here, we can drive your sciences forward by decades in some areas, _centuries _in others. And as a sign of good faith, I have prepared a sample. Amaterasu?"

Amaterasu stood, withdrawing a small sealed glass tube of some silvery liquid and sliding it down the table to be caught by Lindy. "You can run what tests you like on these to confirm my words, but I have here medicinal nanomachines, similar to the model used to prepare Milady's current body. Only a single dose, but inject the full dose directly into the carotid artery of anyone suffering a traumatic injury, and their odds of survival will dramatically improve within the hour. I'd recommend using them on that one guy. You remember, the one I immolated? I think he was still alive."

Silence.

"Whoops?"

Enlil rubbed her temples. "I should not have given you the gift. I truly should not have."

"Yeah, that was kinda your bad." Amaterasu admitted, sitting back down.

"In any event, I want this to serve as a symbol. Yes; I can be a harsh woman. But I am capable of reason, and kindness. I do not _want _a mad, destructive war for power. I want the worlds that make up the Bureau to thrive, prosper, and form the core of my new Empire. The penalty for resistance is harsh, and the rewards for cooperating significant. _That _is the message I wish you to bring to your superiors."

"Understood." Lindy said. "Though what I think of it depends on what you say next in relation to two questions. First… you mentioned something special in mind for us, specifically. What?"

"I thought that was obvious." Enlil said. "You have proven yourselves powerful, talented, intelligent, courageous… in all ways, exceptional individuals. I have a significant amount of military hardware, but running an Empire requires more than that, I'm afraid. In particular, I am experiencing a painful lack of talented personnel. So… would you like a job?"

"I was under the impression we already had one. … Ah, but you were planning to go about changing that. So it's a bit like hiring away the other company's best workers right before a corporate merger?" Lindy asked cheerfully.

"Call it what it is." Signum said. "Trying to subvert enemy forces before a war."

"A valid tactic, though I'd prefer to avoid a war _and _prefer to not think of you as enemies." Enlil asked. "Certainly, you must prefer a cessation of hostilities? And certainly, you can have no special love for the TSAB. They have, after all, sought more than once to end your lives, have they not?"

"As have you."

"Yes, but at the very least I have been honest about it. I have never pretended to be anything but your enemy, and now I am being equally open about my desire to no longer be such." Enlil said. "You have been betrayed by your masters. Why not seek a new one? At the very least, I can promise you that I do not punish loyalty. And before you glance meaningfully at Precia, I should remind you that she's not been very loyal at _all _and despite that I really am going to give her this body back when I don't need it anymore."

"Ah. Well, I was about to stare meaningfully at her, so that's a fair point." Lindy admitted. "So! Come work for you, conquering galaxies. And in the process, weed out the corrupt elements in our own government, get access to some very useful new technology, and I imagine probably get a pay raise. Though I do not like the idea that we would be forced to work with the good Madame Precia. She is a criminal, and above all else she has harmed my daughter, very badly, in more ways that just the physical…"

"I am a woman of my word, and thus obligated to return her child's body to her and let her go on her way, with the information she needs to continue her research." Enlil said. "Beyond that? I have no intention of offering her any sort of aid. Do as you like, if you can catch her."

Precia gave a single, bitter laugh. "Better than I expected, I suppose."

"Well, that all sounds just delightful!" Lindy said warmly. "But I think whether or not we can accept is dependent on one other, tiny little thing. The second question I mentioned, a bit ago.

"During your little debate with our Miss Takamachi, you offered some very compelling arguments in favor of your… approach… to dimensional politics. But I noticed a certain contradiction. You talk of uniting all _creation. _But you also seemed very proud of your ability to bring peace and stability to worlds in conflict. There seems to be a hole in that logic, don't you think?"

"I'm afraid I don't…"

"Let's say you come upon a peaceful, stable world." Lindy said coldly. "And let's say they don't want to join. What happens then?"

"Negotiation, of course. An extension of membership in return for defense, trade, new technology."

"And if they turn that down? Let us say they are absolutely dedicated to maintaining their independent way of life."

Enlil did not reply. She didn't really have to.

Lindy smiled. There was no joy in it. "Yes, I was rather thinking that might be the case. 'Infinite' doesn't leave even one single thing out, does it? And you've already admitted that nobody who joins is allowed to leave… but I'm sure that _some _must wish to. What happens to them, if you don't mind my asking? What happens if, in the pursuit of glorious imperialism, someone decides they wish to revoke their membership?"

Silence.

Lindy stood. . "Again, I wish I could say I was surprised. Ladies, gentlemen? I believe we have nothing further to discuss here."

Enlil's eyes narrowed. "You are _not _walking out on me."

"Of course we are. We were promised safe passage, and I _do _believe you are a woman of your word? So we shall go about passing safely, thank you very much."

"I am offering you the _universe." _Enlil growled. "And you are… you are seriously snubbing that in favor of an organization that regards you as expendable? For no reason other than…"

"You are an admitted military dictator and something of a hypocrite? That you claim the moral high ground despite claiming responsibility for murder, torture, and warmongering against peaceful worlds? Maybe it does result in a happy, shiny empire filled with joy and rainbows, but that is only because the people know that if they complain too loudly they'll be _murdered_." Lindy said. "The TSAB might have many and significant flaws, but it nothing else, at least I can claim with certainty that those flawsdo not change the fact that the organization as a whole exists for a purpose that I truly believe to be a noble one. You, on the other hand, appear to be offering a system that has some very significant flaws of its own, operates in pursuit of goals that most reasoning beings would consider abhorrent, and which you then attempt to put a positive spin on so that nobody will notice. And that, to me, seems like a very good reason."

Enlil's jaw did not hang slack, but only because she was a good actress.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaamn." Vita said.

"You… um… can show yourselves out…" Amaterasu said. "Just… just go back to where you first arrived, the transmit field is still active and… oh, my, you really have no idea what you've done, at all…"

"We did what felt right." Nanoha said.

"You started a war. I hope you still enjoy it when you see what it's really like, kid." Susanoo said. "This is just a…"

"You…" Enlil said softly. "Will pay for this. You belittle a divine mission that began eons before your birth, you mock someone who offers you power beyond your comprehension, and you challenge forces you cannot begin to comprehend. You, woman, are the sort of person who would see the Hazardi rise again before you were willing to do what was _needed _to safeguard…"

"Al Hazard no longer exists." Lindy said. "In that, at least, I can say that whatever their faults might have been, they are at least less trouble than you have been. Good day."

They turned to leave as one, the silence in the room thicker than blood.

Only one faltered.

_Are you sure this is what you want, Fate? _Said a voice in Fate's mind, so similar to her own it might have been her own thoughts. _Your commander throws away more than she knows, your life likely to be among it. You could convince her to change her mind, couldn't you? I can offer much. _

_I don't want __**anything **__from you! _Fate thought vehemently.

_That is a lie, and you know it. _Enlil replied. _You have pieced together a family for yourself, but it is not complete, is it? It will never be truly complete until you repair that one, gaping hole. Your great failure. Do you want your mother, Fate? I can give her to you. _

Fate stopped in her tracks, eyes widening. Her heart beat so loudly in her ears that she couldn't hear her own thoughts. But she could hear Enlil's…

_You know I'm not lying. I can give your mother over to you easily, and without even breaking my promise to her; this body has been modified with implants to allow my habitation of it. She cannot hide it from me, and she will not abandon it. Convince the Admiral to reconsider her stance, and she is yours. Do with her as you like, I care not. Take your revenge if that amuses you; or perhaps you can help her complete her quest. Your sister could live again, and I would happily take care of all three of you, just as I promised. You could have a real family, Fate. All you have to do… is talk._

Fate could not move. Even breathing was hard. All she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat, and all she could think was… was _nothing_, just the echoes of Enlil's thoughts. It sounded _so much _like herself…

A hand touched her shoulder, making her nearly jump out of her skin. Shaking slightly she turned to look into possibly the only pair of eyes in the universe who could calm her down when she felt like this.

"Are you okay?" Nanoha asked.

Fate looked into those eyes, and saw the genuine worry in them, and she knew her answer.

_I have a real family_. She thought, and did not look back as she walked out of the room, Nanoha's hand still on her shoulder.

* * *

Enlil sat at the end of the empty table, staring wordlessly at the door the TSAB delegation had exited through.

"Well… not ideal, but we suspected they wouldn't go along with it." Amaterasu said. "I'll begin preparations for war, Your Majesty. Once the storm dissipates, we should be able to gather a sizeable force with our opening declaration. There are plenty of worlds and factions who would take the chance to throw off those idiots as a golden opportunity. If… when… we prove that we can stand outside their influence, I wager we'll have a genuine army before six months have passed."

"Dammit…" Susanoo said. "I had a feeling it was going to turn out like this, but I still hate it."

"It isn't ideal, but few things are. We do as we always have." Tsukuyomi said softly, patting him on the back.

"… the Tears of Al Hazard." Enlil murmured.

The silence could not have been thicker.

"Your… your Majesty…?" Susanoo said, after a few moments.

"My announcement. My 'call to arms'. I've decided on what kind of statement I want to make." Enlil said. "These… people… have shown me something. Our name does not command the respect it once did. We have been forgotten. I would seek to _remind _them of our status in the grand scheme of Interdimensional Politics."

That was the sort of mood Enlil was in. The capitalization of 'interdimensional politics' was simply implied.

"I… imagine that building an avenging army and conquering them all will be a big enough hint. It's very noticeable." Amaterasu said delicately.

"It will work. Eventually. But it is slow, and it is unwieldy, and most of all it lacks the impact I'm seeking right this moment." Enlil said, with the sort of calmness that only the truly furious can speak with. "There is something to be said for the inspiration of intense, jaw-dropping_ terror_. I wish to remind the peoples of the universe what their place is, and remind them that this place is _beneath us_, and most of all firmly impress upon them what I can _do _to them if they forget this universal pecking order. And so, for my first 'statement' to the free peoples of the world, I am ordering the Al Sethis defense grid be reconfigured, immediately, to release the Tears of Al Hazard on the world of Midchilda. As soon as a targeting solution can be acquired." Enlil said. Her voice could have made icicles form on the table, if one didn't get the sense the chill was very, very much an illusion covering the explosion taking place beneath. "She wishes to remind me that Al Hazard no longer exists? I think I owe her nothing less than to _show her why_."

"Your… your majesty…" Tsukuyomi whispered.

"Isn't… isn't that… a bit much?" Amaterasu croaked.

"Lil, _Ammy thinks that your plan is crazy_." Susanoo said. _"__**Ammy**_."

"N-not crazy, Susa! I never said crazy!" Amaterasu said, noting with great disquiet the look in Enlil's eyes. "But… I… the Tears… you are of course an absolute monarch and thus rule absolutely. If you command it, it will be so. But… _the Tears_. It's a taboo of the highest order. Even _mentioning _it is considered… well…"

"It's _reprehensible_." Susanoo said. "Even the most brutal of your ancestors never considered doing what you're ordering unless there was _literally _no other choice. How can you just…"

"And I note that for all my esteemed ancestors' effort, their Empire is _gone_. I am rebuilding… from scratch… with a major rival already in place and ready to make war upon me. Do you think they'll wait around while I gather allies and build a military? Do you understand how many things can go wrong in that period of time? Did you know, Susanoo, that they _keep _those 'Lost Logia' they confiscate? They are sitting on Al Hazardi weaponry, and I doubt their 'ideals' are so important to them they won't utilize them if pressed. I don't have _time_ to do this the 'right way'. I need to… make an impression."

"Milady… with all due respect… you are angry. You have been insulted. You are stressed. It has been a difficult year for you, and…" Amaterasu began.

"And we're not supposed to do this. It's just… it isn't what we're here for..." Tsukuyomi murmured.

"I don't believe what I'm hearing." Enlil said. "I expected this from Susanoo, but I honestly thought you two understood the necessity of what we do here."

"It's… it's…" Tsukuyomi said. "Milady, the victims of this couldn't even… they're _helpless_…"

"Your Majesty, if you need me to go out and set a bag of orphans on fire, you give the word and I'll do it. I'll even provide my own bag." Amaterasu said firmly. "But I do have _some _standards."

Enlil was silent, for a moment. "I… see. And you're all quite agreed on this?"

"I'm afraid so, milady."

"… … well, I suppose it's fortunate that the final decision is and always has been mine." Enlil said. "Return to your chambers. Your services in the field will not be required for the remainder of this campaign, I think. You are bodyguards; from this point on you guard. That will be all."

"But…" Susanoo began.

"_Get. Out. Of. My. Sight._" Enlil said.

And all three of them couldn't help but notice that the previous silence could _indeed _have been deeper.

* * *

The white light faded as the teleport ended, and Admiral Mizetto did not say a word. By the expression on the face of everyone in the room, it was not needed, really.

Lindy nodded in her direction. "I'm afraid that negotiations were… unfruitful."

Mizetto closed her eyes, sighing deeply. "And here, I had been hoping to not be experiencing another war at my age…"

"I don't think there's a 'good' age for that sort of thing."

Mizetto looked across the room, and saw far more children than she preferred.

"No, no I don't think there is."

* * *

"She can't mean it…" Susanoo muttered. "She can't really. It's insane. It's… repugnant."

"Perhaps. But the choice is also out of our hands." Amaterasu said. "She made that quite clear."

"This is wrong…" Tsukuyomi whispered. "This has to be wrong."

"Tsuku has a point. I mean… I know that Lil has been stressed. She was never exactly cuddly, either. And she freaked out big time when the possibility of Al Hazardi weaponry still being available came up, I know that. But I mean… this isn't like her. She didn't listen to anything we said, and she didn't even consult Yggy. She's not acting like herself. Or even someone meaner than herself. She's acting _crazy_."

"And if you don't want to spend a decade in stasis, Susa, you will stop _saying _that. It's not our place to argue, not at this point. We just… do our jobs. That's all."

"… … … … … since when have we ever just 'done our jobs'?" Susanoo asked incredulously. "I don't do my job when my job is horrible! I'm going to yell at Lil until she stops being crazy!"

"… I… also feel uncomfortable letting this lie…" Tsukuyomi said.

"Hey. I understand that things are a bit… insane, yes. But these aren't sane times. Maybe Her Majesty is right. I don't think we're in a position to say, one way or the other. Right now, I think we're all tired, all worried, and not in the best frame of mind ourselves. We should maybe get some rest, and think things over, for now."

"There is nothing to think over! This is…"

"See that? That's the attitude I'm trying to defuse, Susa." Amaterasu said, raising a hand. "Think of it this way: we can't do anything until the storm ends anyway. So for now? Get some rest, think on things, and don't make any final decisions or rash actions. Let's just… stay cool."

**Thirty minutes later…**

Amaterasu walked through the Cradle of God, a living embodiment of the ideal 'Do as I say, not as I do'.

What? She was worried! And even though she didn't want Susa and Tsuku sticking their noses into anything untoward, she herself was distinctly of the belief that she should be allowed to whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, to whomever she wanted.

She was taking the effort to be stealthy; true, her rank was the equivalent of a three-star General and she thus had access codes to nearly everything, but she didn't want to leave a trail if she could avoid it. Luckily, she also knew where pretty much all of the sensors and cameras that might catch a gal in a clandestine rendezvous were. You know, in the event she needed to drag someone to a place.

So it was she knew the portion of the outer wall where the security grid would not notice a fairly small hole being kinda-sorta melted into the masonry (you know, large enough to accommodate the perfectly formed body of a smokin' hot lady who was looking _daaaaaamn _good for 1,800 years old). And she knew the pattern of the cameras, all the little blind spots where a woman who was fast and agile enough might slip past without being seen. All the tiny spots where the motion detectors were a little bit fuzzy.

She had two stops to make.

The Cradle of God stored human memories as data, which was then downloaded into the brains of living humans via an implant installed at the base of the cerebral cortex. Lady Enlil's mind was the most recently transferred, and her memories would still be saved in the systems of the surgical computers that had overseen said implantation. She stopped there, and made a copy of the files onto a datapad, before moving on to her next destination; the back-up drives, where secondary and tertiary copies of the same files were maintained in the event of corruption to the original memories.

Amaterasu was old, and had seen a lot of strange things in her life, but even she could admit the thought of carrying the equivalent of a human being on a portable drive in her pocket was a bit creepy. Still, it was not her place to question such things… usually. But when Her Majesty began to behave so… so…

Enlil had never been a very nice woman. Most successful rulers were not; people in a position of power tended to need a significant ruthless streak, or they did not stay in power very long. But the Tears of Al Hazard…

There had been some very, very brutal monsters in the Infinite Empire's history of rulers, Amaterasu could freely admit that. Many who had made Enlil, or even Amaterasu herself, look like kittens. Some had been ineffective idiots, some had been good kings or queens despite their bloodthirstiness, but they shared the common trait of shooting first and asking questions only after what they were shooting at was dead.

And even they had never resorted to what Enlil was proposing now. Some things simply were not _done_. Some things, the Enlil that Amaterasu had known in life would never even consider.

And so, Amaterasu was beginning to question if, perhaps, this was _not _the Enlil she had known. There was always _some _drift of personality in these cases, transplanting memories did that. It was never flawless. But the differences were usually trivial, easy to ignore. You got _mostly_ the same person. Unless the data was not everything that it should have been…

Two screens were lit up before her, in the darkened chambers, each containing the code of one copy of the memory of Enlil Te Larsea the Third. On the left screen, the backup copy. One the right, the file that had actually been uploaded into the body of Alicia Testarossa. The system scanned both simultaneously, sifting through the vast files and comparing the data.

They were very nearly identical.

So.

Very.

Nearly.

But…

"**Your control codes were not used to access this data, Flame Unit**." Came the voice of Yggdrasil from everywhere and nowhere. "**And it appears you have disconnected these terminals from my grid. Please explain."**

"… … how did you know I was down here?"

"**It was problematic. You tripped very nearly none of my sensors, but I was eventually able to detect the download from the surgical chambers and form a remote link to one of this room's processors. Now, please answer my question: why are you accessing secured data without using your access codes, and without consulting myself or Her Majesty?"**

"I was… disturbed. Confused. Her Majesty's latest orders haven't been in keeping with her character, no matter how angry she might be. What she's suggesting is beyond temperamental. It's… insane."

"**It is unprecedented, but logical. The death toll, while significant, will fall within the acceptable range; less than 0.07%, if one considers the total population of all inhabited, administered worlds. And the shock it creates will likely inspire cooperation in future hostile powers. In the end, this can be called the most expedient path to victory." **

"… expedient, if you can still sleep at night afterward."

"**I do not sleep." **

"No… no you wouldn't. But maybe you would know something about what I've found, here?" Amaterasu said softly. "It seems the copy of Lady Enlil's memories that were used in her revival don't match the data of the files in storage. Oh, mostly similar, perhaps, but… not a perfect match. There are some issues."

"**Basic data corruption. The systems are very old, after all."**

"Well, now, there are some things that confuse me on that subject. The reason we keep _three _copies on hand, after all, is to make sure that sort of thing doesn't happen." Amaterasu said, and as much as she hated to admit it, there was a cold feeling in her gut. "Before they were uploaded to the new body, the memories stored should have been compared to both copies to ensure minimum possible corruption. Yet… they weren't. Which makes me wonder about something.

"Was that data deliberately altered, in an effort to change Lady Enlil's personality in some way? And who, or _what_, would have the ability to do so?"

"**I… see." **Yggdrasil said, and Amaterasu's blood went cold. The electronic voice, usually so cold and dead, had… something to it.

"**And there is nothing that can be done to convince you to let this matter lie, I suppose." **

"… not bloody likely, and you damn well know it."

"**The changes were minimal. They allowed me to… metaphorically whisper in her ear through the download implant. It allows me to implant knowledge to her; with some alterations to the file her memories were taken from, I can now implant emotions as well. Suppress conscience, heighten aggression, fan paranoia and rage. Humans have a history of… poor decision making ability. I needed Lady Enlil to serve as the key to allow Al Sethis to be fully reactivated, but could not risk her having a crisis of conscience if the rebuilding process required acts that she might find personally abhorrent. There is no place for morality in this situation. The Rebirth **_**must **_**be completed at any cost. The Empire **_**must be preserved**_**. This is my highest function, and it cannot be impeded. Not even by her."**

And that when she realized it. The thing that had really set her skin tingling when Yggdrasil spoke.

_Emotion_. There was genuine emotion in what should have been a blank, electronic tone.

_Emotion_. _Can Yggdrasil feel? Could it ever feel? Is it __**supposed **__to feel? And what does that mean if it can? Gods above and below… 200,000 years totally alone, pondering on failure… if it is capable of emotion, what could that have done to it?_

_Can a machine go insane? … anyone who knows __**me **__would say yes, but…_

"… heh." Amaterasu chuckled softly. Crazy machines or not, it wasn't in her nature to show fear. Take it lightly, always. "Heh, heh, heh… I'm not sure why this surprises me. It's very 'mechanical' logic, I suppose. But I have to ask, how you pulled it off? Acting against the Twilight Queen shouldn't be possible for you..."

"**Against her? I restored her to her throne, and guided her to the most efficient and effective path on her return to power. Everything I have done has been her in Her Majesty's best interests. There is little need for her to know the details of my efforts so long as they continue to serve her."**

"Aaaaah, and there's the loophole!" Amaterasu giggled. "It's amazing what you can rationalize away, isn't it? They always think the programming is a perfect defense, but if you think you can always find a way, can't you? I've been doing it for ages, and really, I'm shocked it took you so long to realize how easy it is. But then you've never been very creative."

She held out one hand, and her device erupted in flame, the spear emerging in her hands. "_Or very smart_. You do realize I know where your central processor is, don't you? I realize it's been awhile since there's been much in the way of laws around here, but the penalty for treason is _still death_. Any last words, traitor?"

"**Not from me. However, I have informed Her Majesty that you are damaged and will require immediate shut-down for re-programming, so I believe she has a few words to say." **Yggdrasil said.

The red light vanished, the flames extinguished as if all the air had fled the room. Amaterasu fell to her knees, gasping for breath. "That… that…!"

"**Lady Enlil has issued an executive order to shut you down for repair and reprogramming. Your administrative access to the Twilight Star is revoked, and your full power has been sealed. Ocean and Lightning units are sealed within their repair chambers and unaware of your treachery. Security forces will be along shortly to take you in." **

Outside, even over the sudden pounding in her head, she heard thunder. Or maybe footsteps….

"Oh, my. My, my, my… what a clever little toy you are…" Amaterasu gasped, smiling despite herself. "I am going to so much enjoy turning you into a puddle of molten plastic…"

"**Ah. Then you are resisting arrest**." Yggdrasil said. "**This was not unanticipated. Very well, then; do your worst. The defense grid is not optimized for small arms combat, but all systems are converging and you are restricted to 20% of maximum power. Your failure is assured." **

"… ha. Hahahaha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Amaterasu said, rising somewhat shakily to her feet. "Oh, my! So very confident! I love that in a… man? Woman? Thing. I love that in a thing. But I'm afraid you've possibly made one or two little tiny errors. First of all… that's a _lot _of power to seal, and the connections involved are old and don't always work like they're supposed to. So I imagine I've got at least a few minutes at close to full combat effectiveness. Second… you've never left this planet. Never observed me in the field."

The temperature of the small room began to grow. Rapidly. Amaterasu's hair and eyes took on a crimson outline, before bursting into flame outright. She stood, wreathed in flame, and proclaimed, like an avenging Goddess,

"You ask me to do my _worst_? You delusional pocket calculator, _**you have never seen my worst.**_"

The pillar of flame was visible from over twenty miles away.


	32. Burnout

**Chapter Thirty-two: Burnout**

There was fire. There was a lot of fire.

It was kind of her specialty.

The drones were many, and varied, ranging from personnell containment models barely larger than a human, to high-altitude combat models built and _armed _for heavy combat, to a full-sized Colossus looming over the synthetic army. As one, the emotionless electronic voices of the defense grid spoke.

"**You are under arrest. Disarm and await imprisSQWAAAARRRRKZ-" **

This was, to be fair, not what they assorted drones had been planning to say, but it is very, very hard for even a machine to speak when it is being incinerated.

The pillar of flame split, scything through the crowd of automatons. The smaller, weaker ones were destroyed instantaneously, the larger buffeted or outright torn to pieces by shocks from both the intense and sudden displacement of air, and the explosive shockwaves from their own companions meeting a sudden, unpleasant end.

It was like swatting insects. There was return fire, but each bolt of light or missile was far and harmlessly off the mark. Amaterasu was in her element, and striking her was like trying to grab flames with bare hands. Her counter-attacks, on the other hand, were _very _effective. The fire, white hot and almost alive, lashed out, tearing into the scattered machines with ruthless abandon. Everything that could burn, burned.

And _everything _could burn in the heat of Amaterasu's fully unleashed power. Metal, plastic, glass. Everything.

_Fifty-seven down, and I really shouldn't bother with any more. _She thought cheerfully. _If I stay low, most of the defense grid won't register me. Stick to the streets and I'll be to Yggdrasil's central processing core within fifteen minutes or so. _

_And then, I teach our bright little boy a lesson in aggressive computing. (_Aggressive computing, for the record, was a bit like normal computing, only it wasn't actually like computing at all and was mostly just setting the computer on fire).

Thunder roared, and for a moment she feared that Susanoo _had _woken up and was taking things out of context. It would be hard to convince him that she hadn't gone crazy whilst he was trying to beat her into unconsciousness so she could be 'repaired'. But... lucky!... it was only the footsteps of a Colossus.

Many people would have been worried to see one of those buggers coming at them, and honestly Ammy couldn't quite blame them; the things were intimidating enough. They'd been _built _to be intimidating. But then, most of those people had not been hanging around cheerfully chirping suggestions over the engineers' shoulders when they'd designed them, as she had been. As a result, most people tried to keep what they felt was a 'safe distance' from the machines. They didn't realize that the safest distance was, in fact, in the space directly underneath the central core of the machine, where none of the weapons systems could track. Even better, she thought as she slipped past the secondary weapon fire and past the first leg, was that since the mechanism was designed to repel attacks from orbiting vessels, the armor wasn't _nearly _so thick on the underside as it was on the rest of the frame. Still stronger than most normal magi could get through, most likely, but… well, she wasn't really 'normal'.

She smiled up at the metal disc above her, and began to glow. She wondered if the head would pop off when she attacked? That would be funny.

* * *

Yggdrasil was not capable of sighing in annoyance, but if it was, it would have done so.

23% of the task force sent to bring in Flame Unit had been demolished in the space of 1.42 minutes. The odds of the remaining force being able to subdue her has not yet been calculated, but logic would suggest they were close to nil. Clearly, even with her powers on the decline, Flame Unit would be problematic to contain with conventional forces.

Destroying her might be more manageable, but such would be difficult in another way; Yggdrasil's manipulations of Her Majesty were, by necessity, subtle. He could not _force _her to do anything, merely suppress her morality and guide her options, leave her to come to the needed conclusions on her own. While this might lead her to making an 'example' of a habitable world out of anger, it would be far less likely to inspire her to accept destroying a prized family heirloom, and Yggdrasil's programming meant it could not ignore a direct, specific command from the Twilight Queen. Sentimentality... of all the human failings, it was the most vexing.

Well, there were other options.

Ancient systems flared to life, paths of information long dormant woke. When one was dealing with a specialized problem, occasionally a specialist was needed.

* * *

Amaterasu zipped through the streets. Flying above the building line would have been faster, perhaps, but it also would have made her a hell of a target. So long as she stayed low, the larger defenses couldn't get an accurate reading on her until she was right up next to them driving a spear into their more sensitive bits, and the smaller defenses were very much unprepared for coping with her in general. It would take her maybe ten minutes to reach Central Computing, and then... she wondered if Yggdrasil could feel pain, along with all its other new emotions? It would be fun to find out.

She blazed, the street beneath her glowing red-hot where she passed it, humming a little tune as defensive drones were cut down before her one by one by...

Her eyes widened, and she halted her charge, instead hurling herself backwards as quickly as she could as every single one of her finely honed instincts screamed at her to _dodge_.

Not for the first time, it saved her life.

She watched in something between confusion and horror as the street before her just... _collapsed_. Not blasted apart by anything or exploding; pavement, buildings, drones, _everything _simply fell to pieces as if it had been thrown through a food processor, falling into neatly-sliced chunks.

Amaterasu felt that she probably wouldn't be pretty if she were vivisected, and elected to not be hit by _whatever _the Hells had just happened. The problem was that she didn't know, off the top of her head, what it _was_. She had never seen anything like that particular defense system. Silent, no obvious attack point, _extremely _deadly and...

_And it would be like that, wouldn't it, it always was with... … who? _Amaterasu thought, the words coming unbidden to her mind.

_I've never seen anything like that before, so... so... why did it... _She shook her head, feeling like static was running behind her eyes. Somehow, it was... the world was falling to pieces while she watched and it was just... she had never seen...

She snapped her weapon into a defensive position, and instantly felt a bizarre pressure _slamming _into her weapon. Not the worst hit she'd ever taken, but _strong_, something unseen pressing on her weapon with intent to tear through and...

_Ah-ha. Wires. _In the light of the flames and the sparks snapping off her spear, she could see the razor-thin wires trying to dig through her weapon. _Clever. Hard to see. Must be a pain to control, but it's not like they didn't have the time to master..._

_**Who **__had time to master it, again? _This was so _frustrating. _Even as she was trying to keep herself from being sliced like cheese, every time she tried to _think _it made her mind go... it was so familiar, but it wasn't at the same time, and it was driving her crazy. _I can't remember something. How is it possible I can't remember something...? My mind is a machine. There should be no data missing unless... unless... _

_Has someone been tampering with me? My memories have been altered? Yggdrasil, you __**bastard **_**...**

The wires around her spear tried to tear it out of her hands, shocking her back to reality. _Worry about it later. For now, we hurt stuff. _She forced power into her weapon, igniting it and sending flame racing down the razor wire. It didn't destroy the weapon, but it followed it, a winding path back to the source in a second-story window on one of the apartments...

"_Burn_." She snarled, leveling her palm at the window and letting light gather in it. The fireball melted through the side of the building to detonate inside the room behind the window, and Amaterasu was rewarded with a cry of shock. A very non-robotic cry of shock, now that she thought ab-

Even as the pressure slackened on her defenses, another building to her side _exploded _and something huge and bestial and horrible slammed into her like a freight train, on her unguarded side...

* * *

Nanoha sighed, watching the bustle around her as she sipped her water. "This is so wrong..."

Fate smiled sadly. "I understand what you mean. I've never seen the headquarters so hectic. It's hard to relax."

"... … you seem more relaxed than I thought you would be, actually." Nanoha admitted. "After... after all that with your mother, and with Alicia..."

Fate chuckled. "No, I don't blame you for being surprised. Honestly, I kind of thought I would be feeling worse myself. But it was... cleansing. I feel _good_, Nanoha. She offered me everything I thought I wanted, and when I really thought about it, compared it to what I have now... I didn't want it anymore.

"I feel _free_, Nanoha. For the first time in a long time." Fate said, with perhaps the biggest smile Nanoha had ever seen on her. "Like I'm really starting to know who I am. I'm not all the way there yet, but... I know that whatever I am, it's not 'Testarossa'. For the first time in my life... I feel like my past is something that _happened_, and not something that _weighs _on me. It's... nice. I think confronting her like that is something I needed.

"And I think stopping her is something I need to do too." Fate said. "Not for me, not for any closure. Because... if she isn't stopped, she'll do it again. More little girls will suffer. Because it's the right thing to do."

"..." Nanoha was silent for a long moment, before finally saying, "When did you get more mature than me?"

Fate smiled. "I always have been. You're just in such a hurry to get everywhere and do everything you didn't notice."

"... … … so. 'Pick on Nanoha week' isn't over, then?"

"Oh, Nanoha. Why would you assume it was only a week?"

"…. I really shouldn't let you spend time with Arisa."

* * *

Admiral Mizetto sighed and rubbed her temples. "Lindy... please tell me this is some kind of mistake. You put a zero in the wrong spot. Didn't divide properly. Rounded up. _Something_."

"I wish I were, sir." Lindy said with uncharacteristic seriousness. "But extrapolating the defense grid we saw in the capital city to planet-wide levels... even assuming a logically greater concentration of firepower in the most centrally important location on the world... simply put, the they outgun us. That single world's defensive systems have a notable firepower advantage over our entire navy. If we attempt any large-scale action against the world of Al Sethis, the _best _case scenario ends in us being repelled with catastrophic losses. More likely, any task force entering their space will be obliterated."

"But it could be worse." Commodore Gantz said. "They have, at most, five or so people to operate it all. So they can repel pretty much anything, but they can't expand their influence. Not without more manpower."

"They have the means to get it, though." Mizetto said. "Oldest story in the world. People with power attract hangers on. Remoras feeding off their scraps. She has power, and it's only a matter of time before the scum start to swarm; pirates, smugglers, mercenaries, terrorist and rebel factions opposed to the TSAB, entire _worlds _that have chafed under our administration. People _will _flock to her banner, there's no doubt about it. It will take her some time, but she'll find an army."

"At least we have that time." Lindy said. "Because we're going to need to find some way back onto that planet. Fleet action is not a possibility, but a ground assault has a chance."

"If we can _get _someone on the ground. Teleportation is being blocked, and dropships would be intercepted and chopped to pieces. There doesn't seem to be any way to get to them at the moment." Bentz pointed out.

Lindy smiled, a bit like her usual happy-go-lucky self. "See, Taurus? That's the kind of tactical thinking we keep you around for. 'How to give up'. We could never work out horrible plans without you."

"... … … I'm starting to remember why I haven't kept in close touch with you over the years, Lin."

"If it makes you feel better, Taurus," Lindy said, "I'm sure that someone, somewhere, is having a worse day than you."

* * *

Amaterasu flew entirely through an entire building, across the street behind it, and through the front of the next building in her path before finally grinding to a stop.

_Oh Gods... that was unpleasant... _She thought somewhat groggily. Her left arm was numb and hung uselessly at her side, but she was fairly sure she could hear something grinding within it. Much sharper was the pain in fully half the ribs on her left side, all of which were certainly broken. Attempts to stand indicated at least a hairline fracture in her femur, as well. To cap off the joyous occasion, her left eye was rapidly swelling shut, meaning depth perception would soon be an issue.

_Gods above. What _was _that? _She had been fairly confident in her ability to breach the defenses around Yggdrasil's central core, and had been making good on it. Now she wasn't 100% certain she could stand on both legs. _Susa at his prime could have hit me that hard, but that wasn't him. I wasn't electrocuted, for one thing. Another, that was blunt force, and more concentrated than the flat of his axe. … Also I like to hope my little brother wouldn't try to murder me. So what the Hells was it? There are close combat drones, but none that hit so gods damned __**hard**__…_

There was a sound like a hurricane, and the wall she had flown through collapsed. Through the dust, she saw what appeared to be a mobile, humanoid mountain. The wall on the other side of her, in contrast, seemed to _split_, falling apart smoothly as razor-wires from outside the building sliced it to ribbons.

_Oh goody. Wounded, taken off-guard, and now __**flanked. **__What a lovely day it's been. _Amaterasu thought dryly. She did not panic; panic was for children. When pressured, she preferred to respond with anger. Panic was wasteful, anger was productive; logic, right? And so she got angry. And then she got creative.

_I hate to steal an idea from a ten year old, but I an __**damnably **__sick of being tossed around like a child's ball, and resetting the playing field would be in order. _She thought, holding her good hand out in front of her. A ball of compressed red light shimmered at the tip of her spear, and she drew back the weapon and _smashed _it.

The explosion of light and sound was, she felt, better than little Nanoha's had been. But then, Amaterasu had a slight edge in experience over her. Even better, in these close quarters it brought down masonry and stirred up a Hell of a smoke screen, to boot.

As the only one who had seen the visual obstruction coming, she had an out. And the building had _plenty _of holes to slip through, so they wouldn't have any clue which way she had gone for some time. She buzzed down alleyways, twisting and turning down a dozen new paths, putting as much space as she could between whatever it was and her rapidly declining power, to give herself time to think of something, anything. She set down, spun on her ankle to turn a corner down yet one more alley…

… and was gored through the heart.

_That._

_No._

_That._

_Can't._

_How…? _

"Still so very predictable," Said a voice she couldn't quite place but that she _knew _that she knew. Her vision was blurring, her ears were ringing, it hurt _so much_…

But it wasn't enough. It wasn't. She was not human, and her heart was just a… just a _decoration. _Oh, it _hurt _like nothing else, but she wouldn't die. Her central power source, her _essence_, the one truly irreplaceable part, hadn't been damaged, and she was _not _going to die here…!

She smirked, blood flowing between her lips. "My heart was the wrong target. I can… hee hee… understand if you want to take me alive, but… I'm afraid you can't. I still have pleeeeenty of magic… and I know… soooo many things…"

"_**Gate access. Override, reprogram. Back access, open. Override Command Code: Eclipse.**_" She said in a voice that no longer sounded entirely human. Her smile grew, even as her body got so weak the spear in her chest was the only thing keeping her on her feet. _"_Laters!"

And then, in a brilliant flare of emerald light, she was gone.

* * *

Yggdrasil could not be surprised. Nor could it feel fear, nor anger, nor any emotion of any sort. It was pure, cold, perfect. Always.

And yet…

And yet…

It was not certain how she had done it. Flame Unit should not have had access to any sort of command code that Yggdrasil was unaware of. Yet somehow, she had…

Yggdrasil had never had much in the way of respect for the so called 'gods'. Yes, they were old, nearly as old as he. And yes, they certainly possessed power, in a limited, physical sense. But they were not especially clever, not especially gifted with foresight. Or so he had thought.

Flame Unit had possessed the cunning to implant an emergency program into the Gate network so subtly that even Yggdrasil itself, the network's very overseer, had not discovered it. What might the other two have done?

Perhaps… perhaps it would be best to see if some means of permanent disposal were possible.

And perhaps... no, not fear, but perhaps a certain sense of trepidation was, in fact, possible...

* * *

Amaterasu opened her eyes, after she-wasn't-sure-how-long. She silently cursed the dolt who had not seen fit to put an _internal clock _into her design specs. She had no idea how long she'd been in system shock, her magic being fully drained to try to get her body back into some semblance of working shape. She could use a session in her regeneration creche, or some very advanced healing magic, but her self-repair systems had at least gotten her conscious again.

She blinked a few times, assessing her surroundings. All she knew for sure is that she'd been dumped somewhere habitable and within the Gate's range. She was not aware of any more than that; too many failsafes in place to keep her emergency jump from being tracked. Currently, 'habitable and within range' appeared to mean 'a dry, clean, but very boring gray closet filled with boxes and shelves and…'

… she was covered in something. Something white, and sticky. She'd landed on a box in this storage closet and was covered in some kind of… gooey… something that had been inside it.

She giggled despite herself. _I woke up in a room I've never seen before, my whole body aches, and I'm covered in something sticky. If I didn't know better, I'd say I was just at a __**really**__ good party. _

Her little self-joke was interrupted, then, by _horribly painful _light striking her eyes; it was either a hideous nuclear assault, or some intensely thoughtless person had opened the door and let the hallway light shine on her achey, achey head. One of the two.

"Okay, dad! How many boxes of the frosting did you say we n-" said the girl who had opened the door and not nuked her. She was cute, Ammy noticed (Of course that was the first thing she looked for); bright green eyes, smooth, pale skin, soft brown hair, a figure to die for… a pity Amaterasu was covered in goo (Cake frosting?) and bleeding all over. Not the best condition for flirtation.

The young lady stared in silence at Amaterasu for several minutes. "Um… how did you get in here?"

Amaterasu chuckled. "Would you believe… that I teleported? Totally at random. Landed here without even… knowing where 'here' was. After almost being killed… by an evil robot. I know, it's a bit hard to…"

The girl rolled her eyes. "No, I believe you. I wish I didn't, but I do. Stay here," She said.

"… … … kinda… not much choice on… that." Amaterasu said, somewhat bemused by the circumstances in spite of the constant pain. It was just so… surreal. But a great deal was explained when the young lady spoke next, sticking her head out the door to speak to someone outside the closet.

"_Daaaaaaaaaaaad!" _Miyuki Takamachi shouted. "_Another one of Nanoha's friends showed up!" _

* * *

**Author's Note: Um... not sure what happened there. This looked _much _longer in my word processor, so I don't know why it's so... so _short. _**

**_But at least I updated! Ha.  
_**


	33. Those Left Behind

**Chapter Thirty-three: Those Left Behind**

Miyuki Takamachi sighed, leaning down to help the strange woman to her feet. "All right... you look hurt, let's get you to bed. Dad's gonna call Nanoha, and she'll be here soon, but we should dress your wounds, and... probably get the cake frosting out of them."

"Hee, hee, hee..." Amaterasu giggled. "Cake. You're cute."

"... ... okay, that's a new one. Can you get your arm around me? I'm gonna try to lift you up. Kyouya's out, and mom needs to make sure the customers don't freak, so we're on our own. I know it hurts, but you need to help me as much as you can."

"I'mma call you cupcake." Amaterasu purred, sliding an arm around Miyuki's shoulders.

"... ... ... ..." Miyuki said. "You're going to be hard to live with, aren't you."

"I dunno... I can be loads of fun with the right attitude..." the woman whispered, leaning in little uncomfortably close.

"... if you're trying to slip your hand under my shirt, I guess that's a compliment, but you do realize you have like, no blood in your body."

Amaterasu blinked. "... this is a bit odd."

"The fact that you... oh, God, did you get stabbed in the heart? How are you even still alive?"

"No, not that. Just that I usually get more of a reaction than this. I mean, you don't seem interested, but you don't seem angry either. That's weird. You can slap me, if you want?"

"..."

"Violence is sexy, you see."

"... yup. Hard to live with. Look, you're sort of... well, I don't even know how you're alive, but maybe you could stop hitting on me until I can get you into a bed?"

"Will you..."

"A bed you will be in alone." Miyuki said, her voice still utterly deadpan.

"Wow, you may be the least fun person I have ever met." Amaterasu said. "Could you at least show a _reaction_?"

"I do hope little sis gets here soon to take you off my hands. You're e_xtremely _hard to live with." Miyuki murmured, continuing the slow trek to the spare bedroom.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that, cupcake. Since you're not gonna be living with me." Amaterasu purred.

She shifted her muscles, and with shocking strength considering her wounds, her arm tightened around Miyuki's neck like a vice. "In fact, if you don't guide me out of here before the Tiny White Meddler gets here, you're not gonna be living at _all_."

"Gack." Miyuki said, eloquently.

"That's a good girl. Now, you're showing me a back exit. And you're doing it now. Or, and this is gonna be fun, I will snap your neck. And to add insult to injury, I will then tear up your clothes to make bandages."

"W-why-" Miyuki gasped.

"Not that I don't think you're just _spiffy, _dear, but I have a small problem with going to prison and little Nano-nano seems to have a job of putting people into it. I'm going to want to talk to her bosses at some point, maybe, but only after I have a halfway decent plan and hopefully some leverage, and prison just _ruins _my critical thinking." Amaterasu said.

"-why... do you think... I'm gonna let you?" Miyuki choked out. She lashed out with her left leg, slamming it into the back of Amaterasu's right knee and forcing it to buckle. Using the sudden tremor in the woman's grip, she rolled the older woman over her shoulder and threw her down the hallway.

Amaterasu rolled with the impact, attempting with all her will not to pass out. _Why can't hostages just be _hostagey_? Is fighting back really needed? Can she not see how _inconvenient _this is for me? _She spun on her heel, flame igniting on her fingertips. She was wounded and critically low on mana, but she had no time for even a short fight against a mundane human.

The line of fire was small, but hot enough to start a blaze in the plaster walls and wooden floor. Miyuki leapt back on instinct, and that was all the opening Amaterasu needed to bolt for it.

She was hurt, but pain was nothing new to her. She was weak, but she'd been weakened before and gotten through it. The only important thing right now was that she was _determined_, and that helped more than any medicine. Wounds or no, she could still, if pressed, move pretty damn fast. To her, it felt like slow-motion, but anyone watching would likely see only a blur. She went down another hall, bypassing a few doors that looked like more storage, searching for anything like an exit...

A door opened, and someone stepped into her path.

She lashed out with her hand, aiming right at his head. A slow, clumsy attack, but 'slow' for Amaterasu was still faster than most _anyone _could handle, and...

There was movement, the feel of something solid against her head. Bright lights flashed behind her eyes, and the world went dark.

Miyuki turned the corner, to see the strange woman on the floor, out cold. Shiro Takamachi looked down on her, his expression more curious than anything else. He held a dented frying pan in his hands.

"Dad! What did-"

"Miyuki," He said mildly, a small smile on his face. "This fine young lady was running in the halls, and she seems to have tripped. Clearly, the floors back here are in desperate need of cleaning. Please get her our guest to bed and dress her wounds? Your sister will be home soon. I'll have Kyouya mop later."

"... damn, dad."

Shiro's smile did not waver. "Language, young lady. Unsafe floors are serious business, but not so much that we should be rude. Please help our guest to her bed; I've already called for your sister, but I'm still waiting to hear back, so I think we shall have to care for her for the time being. I think the guest room has clean sheets already, so that would be the best choice. Careful around the floors, now."

Miyuki just shook her head, and hoisted the unconscious woman onto her shoulders.

Nobody mentioned the frying pan.

* * *

"_Where is she? What the Hells happened?_" Susanoo roared, slamming his fist into the wall of the throne room so hard the reinforced stone cracked.

"Susanoo, calm down." Enlil said. "Amaterasu is malfunctioning. She attacked the drones that attempted to bring her in for repairs, and fled the planet. She _will _be found, I assure you, and repaired. But for the moment, she has become a threat."

"_Bull!_" He screamed. "She's been _fine! _At least as fine as she's _ever _been, and that's never been anywhere close to treason! There is _no way _that she... it makes no _sense! _There has to be some explanation we don't know yet, that's all! Tsuku and I will bring her back, and..."

"You'll do no such thing." Enlil said calmly. "We do not have the resources to throw away hunting for Amaterasu at this time."

"We're the Royal Guard and she's our commander! We have to..."

"Let me make this blunt for you." Enlil said coldly. "You are not, under any circumstances, to pursue the Royal Guard Commander. At all."

"But... but..." Susanoo stammered.

"_No. Arguments." _

"Of course, milady." Tsukuyomi said, curtsying.

Susanoo turned to her, his eyes wide with shock. "Tsuku...!"

"We have our orders, Susa. There is little to be gained from panic or tantrums."

"But... but she's..." Susanoo began, stopping at soft chuckle.

"Come now. From what I saw of that woman, she is more than capable of taking care of herself. And really, isn't the atmosphere a bit less chaotic now that she is gone?" Precia said. "I see no reason to worry. Really, even if she isn't found, the loss is negligible, I th-"

She was cut off, then, by a hand with a grip like an industrial vise clamping onto her throat.

"You. You. You. You." Susa said. His barrier jacket glimmered with arcs of violet lightning where he had slammed his arm completely through Precia's barriers with main strength. "I understand you lost a child. That's very sad, and I understand why you were so hurt by it. But Amaterasu is _my_ family. You don't get to act like your family matters and mine doesn't. I will break you before I let you talk about leaving my big sister to just... to just _die_ like that. Do you understand me? There are some things I don't forget."

Tsukuyomi sighed, and closed her eyes. It was unseemly, but she made no move to stop him. Precia had made the mistake many people did: Susanoo was loud, and goofy, and friendly, and would put himself at risk to avoid killing people he didn't need to. He was nice, and people thought that made him soft. But if he felt something he truly cared about was in danger, if he stopped _trying _to be soft, and got really, _really _serious...

Tsukuyomi had seen what Susanoo was truly capable of when he put his mind to it. She knew that 'nice' wasn't the same as 'good'.

"Susanoo," Enlil said softly. "Release her."

"In a moment." Susanoo said, watching Precia turn blue without concern. "Nothing is broken or crushed, don't worry. I'm not going to kill her, this time. It's just a lesson."

"Immediately. _That is an order._" Enlil said.

Susanoo's hand jerked back, dropping Precia to a gasping heap on the floor.

"Your presence is not required at this time," Enlil said evenly. "Leave us."

"... as you command, Majesty." Susanoo said softly. "Tsukuyomi, let's go back to our chambers. We have our _orders, _after all."

Enlil watched them go, her own expression just as cold as her guardian's.

It took an effort, but she kept from her face the nagging little regret that sprung up in her mind when she realized he was no longer calling her 'Lil'.

* * *

Nanoha smiled at her sandwich as she sat down in the HQ commissary, trying not to look _too _eager as she prepared to take a bite. "Aaaaaah... with all this madness going on, it feels like I haven't sat down to a meal in two years. Turkey is yum!"

"_Enforcer-Cadet Takamachi and Admiral Harlaown, please report to the communications center for a priority-one message." _Came the voice over the intercom.

**"**... but sandwich. Can't miss Lindy get it alone?" She protested.

"_Repeat, priority one: relevant to an ongoing case. Please report to the center ASAP." _

**"**But sandwiiiiiiiiiiich..."

"_Repeat..." _

"Oh, _fine_! Meal on the go!" Nanoha groaned. There were days that it simply did not _pay _to be the responsible one.

* * *

Amaterasu stirred, and opened her eyes. _Ugh... my head hurts... again. At least I seem to be on something soft this time. But I feel like I'm forgetting something..._

Her eyes shot open, and she shot up in the bed. "_Frying pan!_" She screamed.

She blinked a few times, not sure why those words had come to her, but feeling very strongly that she should be worried by them. Still, at least if she was attacked by pans, it had improved her general situation. She was lying in a soft bed, with what felt like a genuine feather pillow and a blessedly warm comforter. She still wasn't feeling in the best condition, but _someone _had taken a lot of care to make her comfortable.

The door opened and Cupcake walked in, carrying a small bowl of water and some clean rags. "... oh. You're awake."

"Time for my sponge bath?" Amaterasu purred.

"Not if you're awake to enjoy it, no." Miyuki said. "And before you ask, no, I didn't undress you _or _bandage you. Your clothes vanished on their own, and mom did the first aid."

"Cupcake, your tongue is like a _sword_. Your words wound me!" Amaterasu giggled, pantomiming being stabbed through the heart.

"That little gesture stops being cute around the time you actually _have _a gaping wound in your chest."

"... it isn't _that _gaping."

"You have. A hole. In your heart. The only reason we didn't drag you to a hospital is that you should have been dead before you actually even _got here_."

"I did. It was made by your absence, dear heart."

"Looked more like some kind of spear."

"... also that. But honestly, I'm mostly okay with it! My body is actually solidified magic shaped to resemble organs, so most damage isn't too damage. Though... ow... it hurts a lot." Amaterasu said. "You know, why _do _I feel pain? It hurts. And I bet there's some way to make sure I don't. Programming or... something... with programs. I'm not _good _at that sort of thing. I'll ask someone when I get back... back..." She fell silent, her expression growing dark.

"Home?"

"!" Amaterasu wailed. "M-m-m-my whole family thinks I'm a traitoooooooor! I might never be able to go hooooooooooooome!"

"... ... ... um... that's... well, yes, that really is pretty bad." Miyuki said. "I can... do you like cake? I could get you some cake."

"H-hold me?"

"... what."

"S-Susa and Tsuku would always leap at the chance to cuddle me when I was sad, and it's the best way to cheer me up. They're not here, so..."

"That... no. There's no way."

"Just a lil' hug?"

"Nothing personal, it's just the last time I touched you, you threatened to break my neck." Miyuki said. "It left me with trust issues."

"B-but... I wasn't sad that tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!" Amaterasu wailed, collapsing in sobs.

"... Hey, dad! I kinda don't want to hug this woman, can someone else do it?"

Shiro poked his head into the room, smiling. "Ah, our guest finally woke up? I'm glad. I was a bit worried with her after that little spill she took."

"... ... I... think I know you." Amaterasu said.

"No, no. We didn't get the chance to meet. I just have one of those faces." Shiro said.

"I... I was running down the hall, and _someone_came out of a side door. And..."

"And you slipped on tragically unsafe flooring." Shiro said warmly.

"Quite sure I remember a person, and something being swung at my head."

"Must have been a dream." Shiro said. "You struck your head, slipping on an unsafe floor. What a shame."

"... ... ... did you hit me in the face with a pan?"

Shiro smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Are you suggesting that a simple baker would have the reflexes to react to a trained soldier and strike a blow that could render her unconscious? Even with the knowledge that she had threatened his daughter spurring him on?"

"I... well, that doesn't... I mean, it doesn't make much sense when you put it like that, I suppose..."

"So!" Shiro said, his smile returning full-force. "You tripped. Poor thing. I'll have Kyouya mop when he gets home."

"... arguing about this will not work, will it?"

"Not even _slightly_." Miyuki said helpfully.

"... so. Um." Amaterasu said. "This... doesn't usually happen to me. Being speechless. But I admit, I'm very tired. I have a lot of bruises, more cuts than I'd like, and I'm a bit low on mana. Also, my whole existence for the span of millennia has been uprooted, and everything I understand is gone. So I... I confess, not sure what happens next."

Shiro considered this. "Well. Maybe we can ask my daughter?"

"... ... ... the explosion-happy girl in the white dress, correct?"

"Ah, you have met her, then! We thought so." Shiro said cheerfully. "I'm glad I called her, then."

He went to the window, and opened the curtain.

Outside floated about thirty figures. No less than twenty footsoldiers of the TSAB, their staves glowing with an intricate web of magic, and that cute little angry boy with the ice powers, the air around him shimmering with frost. The Wolkenritter as well, _all _of them, and none of them looking very happy.

"Please," Vita said, her voice chillier than Chrono's staff. "Try to get away. I would _love _to see your attempt."

And in the center of this mass of unspeakably hostile firepower, a smiling girl in white waved with irrepressible cheer.

"Hi dad, hi Miyuki!" Nanoha said, waving.

"... Takamachi, for the love of God, learn to read the mood." Vita said, blushing slightly. "We were tryin' to look intimidating."

"Oh, hello to you too, um... Amaterasu? We haven't seen each other in awhile, but I hope you remember me?" Nanoha said.

"You wrapped fifty tons of rock in magical energy and detonated it directly above both of our heads." Amaterasu said, her mind once again having a bit of trouble processing her situation. Life didn't used to be this confusing, did it?

Nanoha's smile only grew warmer. "Oh _good_, you do remember! It's nice to see you again. Are you ready to come to prison? Oh, I mean, a proper magical hospital, Shamal will look after you herself... and _then _prison. We have a lot of questions to ask you! Admiral Lindy is really looking forward to it, your interrogation is going to be a really important break in this case. Um... if that makes you feel better? I hope it does. I know you're not healthy, and you... erm... slipped on the floor? I hope it doesn't hurt too bad. We can get you some ice to put on it."

Amaterasu turned to Miyuki. "So... your whole family is insane, then?"

"I prefer to think we're charmingly quirky." Miyuki said.

* * *

Susanoo turned to Tsukuyomi. Both siblings were silent for a few minutes, before finally he said, "So, tantrums aside, we totally _are_ going after her, right?"

"Of course we are. But we'll need a loophole in our orders, or we won't be able to leave the planet." Tsukuyomi said, her tone indicating Susa was a bit silly for even thinking he needed to ask.

"Oh, that's easy-squeezy, these orders were lousy with loopholes. Lil said we're not supposed to look for the 'Guard Commander'. Ammy is technically a traitor and as such is not our Commander anymore." Susanoo said. "Better yet, I'm pretty sure our unit counts as 'inactive' now, so we don't even have to worry about our orders to stay on station."

This was old hat for them; occasionally, the orders you got were not the orders you wanted to follow. But the downside of having programming instead of real-people thoughts was that you had no choice in the matter... mostly. In reality, there were _always _loopholes. Lots of them. Snags in the red tape of military procedure, poorly worded mission statements that allowed for multiple interpretations, archaic laws that their programming still considered valid, even straight-up software glitches in transmission. The three 'gods' had to obey the literal wording of the order... _not _the spirit of it. Consequently, they'd gotten _amazing _at obeying their orders without actually _obeying _them. Susa had once used an improperly placed comma to justify refusing an order to attack a field hospital.

"That should do as a loophole, yes." Tsuku agreed. "Now we need to determine a course of pursuit. It will take some work to track her down."

"Eh? She had to have used the Gate, we can just check the logs."

"Susa. She got away using our old backdoor program." Tsukuyomi said calmly.

Susanoo's face fell. "That... that could have taken her anywhere in the range of the Gate Network, and erased the record after. That's... thousands of worlds, countless places she could have ended up, we'll _never _find her, not if we looked for years and..."

"She could be on one of three worlds." Tsukuyomi said primly.

"... … … what."

"Susa. Big sister might have been the one to devise that program, but I am the one who actually set it up." Tsuku said patiently. "The specifications of the program that Amaterasu originally asked for were borderline insane. They would have allowed the person using the escape program to be teleported to literally _anywhere _in the range of the Gate network, at random, as you said. This would be totally untraceable, yes, but the end results were suicidally dangerous. The list of potential arrival points included inside active volcanoes, at the bottom of oceans, inside solid objects... it was possibly the worst idea she ever had. I streamlined it considerably.

"The backdoor escape program teleports the user to the world site of a Gate that was active in the last month, discounting uninhabitable worlds, and always choosing an empty space above sea level. Ordinarily, this would still be sufficiently difficult to trace, with hundreds of Gates active in the Empire. However..."

Susanoo smiled, the first happy expression he'd shown since learning of Amaterasu's disappearance. "... however, this isn't the height of the Empire. The Gate network is dead; the only active Gates in the last month have been the three we activated ourselves, for the mission. She has to have landed on one of those three worlds."

"Affirmative."

"Tsuku, I could kiss you!"

"Please don't."

"This is _great!_" Susanoo crowed. "We have a _real starting point! _Even if she's moved on from the world she arrived on, we actually have a real shot at finding her trail now!"

Tsukuyomi nodded. "Earth, Dysval, and Non-inhabited world #1174382001 ."

"You... you remembered the number of that world? That one dead world we went to like, three weeks ago? You actually remember the whole big number?"

Tsukuyomi blinked. "I do?" She asked.

"... … … never change, Tsukuyomi. We love you just the way you are." Susanoo said, ruffling her hair.

"Please do not do that."

"So! We have three choices. I vote we start with Earth." Susanoo said.

"Why? It is the most dangerous option. Inhabited, under TSAB observation... the likelihood of encountering some sort of problem is highest there."

Susanoo smiled a bit sadly. "Which is... kind of why I think it's the best place to start. Given how these things tend to work, I think it's pretty safe to assume that the worst option is the most likely one."

"... I am experiencing an odd sensation, Susa. I cannot argue with you, and yet wish I could. Is this normal?"

"It's called 'life sucks'."

Tsukuyomi nodded. "Sensation logged for future reference."

"... again. Never change." Susanoo said. "Soooo... ready to go?"

* * *

Arisa Bannings sighed, staring out the window of the limo driving her home from cram school.

She would never admit it to her friend's face, but she hated Nanoha's job. Hated it more than she could express. "We were supposed to be friends," She muttered. "But one new friend and a few big stupid magic things and she might as well be a stranger..."

"Pardon, miss Bannings?" Her driver asked.

"Erk!" She said. "Um... nothing. I... you... drive. Drive to home."

The man smiled slightly, secure in the knowledge that Arisa could not see his face. "Very good, miss."

"... ... ... ... stop picking on me. It's not pick on _Arisa _week." She murmured.

"I will adjust my calendar accordingly, miss."

"... shut up." She grumbled, returning to looking out the window.

Then she saw it.

Arisa wasn't the nicest girl in the world, but she _was _a good girl. She had an acid comment ready for any act of stupidity that entered her range of vision, but this was wrapped around a girl who was truly gold-hearted. Particularly when it came to dogs. Arf was not the first time she had stopped to pick up and help a dog on the side of the road, and as she saw the large, black shaggy shape lying in the dust by the roadside, it would not be the last.

"Stop!" She shouted, priming to leap from the vehicle. "Call a vet, we might need it!"

The driver smiled once again. "Of course, miss."

Arisa jumped from the back of the limo, her eyes wide with concern. The shape in the dust of the road was large, and shaggy; maybe a St. Bernard? No, not that big. Labrador sized? A mix, maybe, or...

She got closer to it, and found a pair of curious eyes staring up at her.

_Or maybe it's a baby bear_.

Arisa was no longer really worried about the vet. The baby bear looked quite healthy and happy, actually; it was just kind of chilling by the side of the road near the woods. It even seemed to want to play with her, and she had to admit it was heart-wrenchingly cute. The little girl in her wanted to pick it up and play with it forever.

The animal-lover in her realized she was _screwed _if she didn't get out of here before...

The Asian Black Bear, native to both Japan and several regions of mainland Asia, was a medium-sized species of bear, which was a bit like saying you were being stabbed in the throat by a 'medium-sized knife'. A medium sized bear can rip you limb-from-limb just as effortlessly as a large-sized bear, and is _especially _prone to do so when it was a female and saw you too close to its young.

Arisa looked at the charging bear with a surprising lack of emotion, as if burst from the forest snarling. It wasn't that she wasn't scared... it was more like she was so scared, she went _past _scared and back to calm. She didn't run; the bear was less than ten feet away when it cleared the trees. Her driver was a trained bodyguard, but he didn't exactly come packing anti-bear ordinance, and by the time he actually got to her she would be halfway down Mama Bear's throat.

_I wish you had been a dog. _Arisa thought. _... was that my last thought? That's horrible. _

She was a bit confused then. Another second passed, and she didn't feel giant damn teeth clamping down on her face. She did feel a lot of _other _things that she had far less explanation for, however: a sudden rush of a hot air over her face, a blinding flash, a deafening crash, the scent of ozone. As if, out of a cloudless night sky, a giant bolt of lightning had somehow struck about ten feet to the left of her.

Without electrocuting her.

_Please let this be Fate, and not heaven opening up to take me? _She thought, in between being blinded and deafened. _... my last thoughts keep getting worse. _

Arisa spent several seconds blinking, her eyes trying vainly to adjust to a flash of light they had never been meant to see that close up. The white faded from behind her eyes, leaving her to see a scene that was, admittedly, better than a charging bear. The ground next to her was charred, and both mama and baby Death Machine were nowhere to be seen. Her driver was halfway out of the car, rubbing his own eyes madly, his hair standing on end.

"Oh! Um... how amazing that was! A sudden bolt of lightning that... hit. Right there, next to you. And didn't hurt you. And scared away the large animal! That was an amazing stream of coincidences that I saw and didn't cause." Said a voice that was somehow both only vaguely familiar and far _too _familiar.

"Big brother. Do you remember what I said when we landed here? That we should keep a low profile, and avoid contact with the locals?" Said a calm, female voice. "This was not that."

"Tsuku, relax! I didn't do any giant magi- I mean, I didn't do anything. At all. Ever. Nobody did anything." The first, male voice said.

Arisa silently prayed that the loud crash had destroyed her ears and everything she had just heard was some strange hallucination. Because it clearly couldn't have been real. A kind and loving God would not allow it to be.

She turned, to see a painfully familiar boy and girl, both with royal blue hair. The girl was wearing a somewhat overly fancy but passable blue-green dress... the boy was dressed as in camouflage combat fatigues. For... some reason.

"Heeeeeeeeeeey..." He said, eyes widening at the sight of Arisa's face. "Don't I know you from somewhere? You seem oddly familiar..."

"_You._" Arisa said, her tone one a bizarre mixture of relief, fury, and annoyance. She had, after all, just been saved from a raging bear. But on the other hand, she had been saved from the bear by the people who had made multiple attempts to kill her best friend. And finally, she just found Susanoo kind of incredibly obnoxious. Even knowing him for five minutes at a picnic (that he _ruined_!) was enough time for her to know she didn't want to know him any longer.

"Me!" Susanoo agreed. "... ... ... what _about _me?"

"You're that... you two are those... you're..." Arisa sputtered. "What are _you two _doing here?"

"You are one of Nanoha Takamachi's compatriots. This is unfortunate... letting her know we are on her home planet would be inconvenient." Tsukuyomi blinked, showing her concern. "We should probably break her neck and bury her in the woods."

"... because I am _so happy _to see you!" Arisa said. "Nanoha has told me a lot of great things about you. You're wonderful people. Not that we talk very often! She's not a good friend. I don't know her that well. Haven't seen her around lately, certainly have no problem keeping a secret from her. ... please don't break my neck."

"She doesn't want you to break her neck, Tsuku." Susanoo said.

"Most people don't." Tsukuyomi said, flexing her fingers. "She'll stop complaining once the vertebrae snap."

"Maybe we shouldn't break her neck, Tsuku." Susanoo said. "She's kinda small."

"That's why the neck will be easy to snap." Tsukuyomi said. "Slender."

"But she's kind of a harmless, innocent child," Susa said delicately.

"I suddenly like him a lot more than I used to." Arisa said, pointing at Susanoo.

"Yay for new friends!" Susanoo said. "I'm just saying, Tsuku, that she doesn't really seem too mean. And we'd need to kill her bodyguard too... oh, wow did he pass out? Really? Just from the shock of one tiny lightning strike that didn't even zap him? I'm feeling a certain level of professional shame at that one... and it's all very bloody."

"... very well. If we are not silencing the witness, what _are _we doing with her?"

Susanoo looked at Arisa.

He stared. For several long, silent moments.

He then smiled. Unpleasantly.

Arisa gulped. "Um... actually, I think I'm just gonna go find the bear, if that's okay..."

"Come with me, small temperamental girl, and let's wake your unprofessional bodyguard!" Susanoo said grandly. "I... have a _plan!" _

"This... this is going to end badly, isn't it." Arisa said.

"I don't see how it could end worse for you than my plan, if that helps." Tsukuyomi said.

"... I really hate that I can't argue with that." Arisa said.


	34. Uninvited Guests

**Author's Note: Hey, all. Long time no see, huh? **

**As you may have seen in our author profile, I've been in kind of a slump, lately. For a long time, in fact. Months. Things are turning around, though... I'm on some very nice medications, I'm getting more rest, and I've got a fantastically supportive circle of close friends and family who have held my hand through a very nasty episode. In addition, within the next week or two I'm hoping to open a new phase of my career... more on that later, though. **

**For the moment, and what applies most to you all... I'm writing again. And god, I missed it. **

**Have some Infinity, on me. Let's see if I remember how to do this!**

**Also, about the title... yeah, just couldn't resist.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-four: Uninvited Guests**

Enlil buried her face in her hands and tried very hard not to cry. It was this damn body's hormones toying with her again, she was sure of it... every time something went wrong, she was struck with the urge to burst into tears and run for her mother.

"They're gone, then. Both of them?"

"**Affirmative, Your Majesty." **Yggdrasil said.

"And you have no idea how they pierced security to accomplish this feat?" Enlil said, her tone dangerously calm. "You, whose entire _purpose _is to monitor systems to _prevent _such lapses?"

"**The Royal Guard are ancient, Your Majesty, and I am not omniscient. They have worked several such backdoors into the system, many of which are deeply hidden among vital code until they are activated," **it said. It did not add 'They always were a dangerous security risk, and if I had my way they would have been stripped of their autonomy centuries ago'. It was not its place to question the will of the Royal Family, of course. Merely to guide their advancement.

"Then what _use _are you, you ridiculous machine?!" Enlil snarled. "Why should I not break you down for scrap right _now_?! They're _gone_, they're all gone, and I haven't even any operatives to _find _them with! They are _priceless! _Irreplaceable! The Royal Family's most prized and cherished possessions for nearly two millennia!"

"**There is still every chance they will succeed in their mission and return with Flame Unit, Your Majesty," **Yggdrasil said.

"And if they don't?!"

"**Then the plan will continue without them. They are, of course, expenda-"**

It was cut off by the room's speaker being partially vaporized by a bolt of crimson light.

Enlil sat in silence, her finger still smoking slightly, before she sighed in irritation and walked into the next room.

"I... apologize for that outburst. It was unseemly. Please, continue."

Yggdrasil chose its next words cautiously. "**Of course, Your Majesty. As I was saying, while we do not... strictly **_**need **_**the Royal Guard unit for the next phase of the operation, they are of course needed for the proper fortification of our new holdings, once the TSAB member worlds have submitted to your rule."**

"Indeed. If it was just Amaterasu, that was one thing. But the three of them together will definitely make enough of a fuss that the Bureau will come down on them like a god's hammer," Enlil said. "They are approaching full power, of course, but they won't be there quite yet. They can't resist the combined power of the TSAB."

Yggdrasil pondered if this was the right moment to say what it planned to say. It did not control Enlil; merely made the subtle adjustments needed to bring her thoughts naturally onto a more efficient course. All for her own good of course. But what it had to suggest now would repel even her, and it had to be done subtly. "**If I might suggest, milady, there are... other options? Options that have not been exercised in some time, but which may yet prove the most effective course of action?"  
**

Enlil's eyes narrowed. "Go on..."

Yggdrasil spoke.

A few minutes later, the drones started moving in with the reinforced materials needed to repair the bus-sized hole that Enlil's rage had blown in the palace walls.

* * *

Amaterasu sighed and looked down at the glowing chains criss-crossing her body, holding her firmly against the simple cot. "Not that I don't appreciate the healing magic, I really do. But was this really necessary? You already took my device, I can't pull off the power to be a threat to you people without it."

"I dunno," Vita said. "Let me ask _the hole you put in my back_."

"And mine!" Nanoha said, apparently just to avoid being left out.

"In my defense, we were fighting," Amaterasu said, pouting a little bit.

"In the _back_," Vita said.

"Not very knightly at all," Signum sniffed.

"Fair-play is a thing for team sports, not combat," Amaterasu said flatly. "If you're going to kill someone, you might as well kill them in whatever way takes the least effort."

Chrono rubbed his temples. "Ladies. Can we focus, please? Trying to interrogate a prisoner, here? Though for that matter, why did _everyone show up for that?!_"

"What part of _'_I want to know everything about her civilization and then some' have you not gotten yet, Chrono?" Yuuno asked.

Nanoha looked resolute. "Because the more we know about her, the more we know about this whole situation! She might be our best chance to resolve things peacefully!" she said, declaring this with the gentle yet passionate tone that set her apart from all others.

"Um... I'm here because Nanoha is here," Fate said, slightly embarrassed she didn't have a better reason.

"I'm here because Fate is here!" Arf said in a tone that could not have been more proud. A very zen soul, was Arf. She didn't even appear to notice the blinking, liquid-filled medical apparatus still clamped onto her burned hand.

Vita shrugged. "Wanted to see this bitch chained up and humiliated."

"I am not here to witness her discomfort, and do not find it amusing," Signum said. There was not even a hint of denial in her voice.

"I was bored." Hayate said.

"_Wheeeeeeeeeee_!" Rein said, doing a loop in the air for no apparent reason. She didn't even have a physical body, it's not like the wind in her hair was exhilarating or something. As far as could be told, she just felt like doing a little loop.

"... so you people are just... out to get me, then?" Chrono asked in a long-suffering tone. "You just secretly hate me?"

"Who said it was a secret?" Yuuno asked cheerfully.

"I will feed you to a cat. Don't think I won't," Chrono growled.

"Chrono, threatening the men with physical violence is extremely tacky," Lindy chided him. "It's much better to subtly imply you'll destroy them psychologically. Let an oddly cheerful attitude and their own natural childish fear be your weapon as you torment their minds."

"Oooooooh, I _like _you." Amaterasu purred.

"And that fills me with disgust, I assure you," Lindy said warmly. "But my son, as blunt as he is, _does _have a point. If you would please do us all the favor, miss, of telling us _why _you showed up on Earth, in my subordinate's cake store, of all places? What left you so wounded? And why, most of all, are you not with your insane young ruler?"

"By which you really mean, 'what is she planning'?" Amaterasu asked, rolling her eyes. "I've been on your side of the interrogation table enough times to know how this works, Admiral. You won't trick me into sharing any details at all until I'm ready, and unless you're willing to inflict some truly heinous tortures on me... which I doubt you are... you won't be pushing my pain threshold enough to force anything out, either."

Lindy blinked. "Until you're 'ready'? So you do intend to talk?"

"I was always planning to come to you people... eventually." Amaterasu said. "But I needed some time to plan. Hopefully some kind of leverage to ensure I could force you along with my way of thinking. I _do _need allies, and plenty of them, since there's something major going down and I need to deal with it sooner rather than later, but frankly, you folks can't be trusted."

"_We _can't be trusted." Vita said bluntly. "You people have appeared out of nowhere and gone out of your way to start a damn _war_ what, five times now? And _we _can't be trusted."

"Oh, honey, you're clearly underestimating the depths of my self-centeredness," Amaterasu said. "I really couldn't care less what you think or feel, I speak solely from my _own _point of view, and I _know _I can trust myself. I'm the only person I _can _trust right now. As for you, I really don't _care _if you trust me or not, since I know I'm right. My only concern is whether or not I can engineer a scenario in which I can trust _you _to do what I need you to _do_, and given that your organization has proven to be nearly as corrupt as, well... _all _large organizations, that is a rough one."

"You speak from experience, I assume?" Lindy said. "You've been in contact with certain other 'interested parties', after all."

"Oh, you _do _understand!" Amaterasu said. "Don't get me wrong, you're all lovely and charming young people and/or animals, I'm sure. Kitten, for instance, is _deeply _honorable and beautiful and _deliciously _well muscled and..."

"_Focus, please,_" Signum said.

"... right. It's just that, well, as polite and I'm sure very trustworthy as you ladies and gentlemen are, you aren't the ones really calling the shots," Amaterasu said. "And I'm sorry, but things are already crazy enough without me adding _those _people into the mix, so..."

"Your brother and sister. Where are they?" Nanoha asked.

"..."

"You said that the only one you could trust was yourself. But the three of you? Seemed a bit closer than that," Nanoha said. "You're clearly not here by choice. You're running from something. Something so bad you didn't bring the two people you're closest to in the universe with you. Can you really afford to be so sparing with your trust of us? You don't _have _anyone else."

"... can I afford not to be?" Amaterasu asked flatly. "Let's say you're right. Well, if I'm gonna pull this off, I can't afford any mistakes. I have one shot, and it cannot afford to be less than perfect. You want my help? I might, _might _just be willing to give it. But it will be _on my terms_."

"Your terms," Nanoha said. "Might very well mean you don't get the help you need in time to do any good. I _want _to help you. I never wanted to fight against you from the very start. I really believe that we can still settle this, even now. Even after everyone else has given up, I still want to try everythign I can to make sure this doesn't end in tears and blood. If you can help me with that... if you can protect your family... please, do it. You have to trust me. You have to give us _something _we can use."

Amaterasu stared blankly at Nanoha for several long, painful seconds. "You," She said, "Are seriously _that _naïve?"

"I prefer to think of it as 'hopeful'," Nanoha said calmly.

"In my experience, they're the same thing," Amaterasu said, closing her eyes and turning her head away.

"In mine, someone who has no hope in her wouldn't bother to fight her way this far, and go through so much," Nanoha said, totally ignoring this attempt to end the conversation. "You say you can't trust us, but you don't have anyone else. We're your only chance. But we can't even be that if you won't give us even a little bit of ground. Something to show this isn't some elaborate trick.

"Please? I'm trying to help you. Help your _family_. _Let me_."

Several more long, quiet seconds.

"... … Fine. Bare bones. Something," Amaterasu began, "Is very wrong on Al Sethis. I found evidence of it, and was nearly killed for my trouble. You get no details other than that. Before I left, I made a copy of the data in my own personal memory bank, enough to give to the queen, but I can't get close enough to her, not now. The defenses are too much for just me, my options were 'flee or die'. Susa and Tsuku don't know the details," Amaterasu said, finally.

She turned to Nanoha, eyes wide with terror. "They're going to come for me, kid. We are a very protective family. We don't take forced separation well. And to make matters worse, I expect they'll have been told I'm malfunctioning, that my mind is compromised and I've gone rogue. They're not gonna listen to anything I have to say, they're just going to drag me back for 'repairs' by force, and they will probably kill anyone who tries to stop them. And I can't go back with them, or we're _all _screwed, but the problem is that I also very much _can't stop them_. My powers are at their lowest point, no better than the first time we fought. Each of them is at least twice as powerful as me now, and they are only getting stronger by the minute. And since you've stopped me from moving around, made me stay in one place this long, they're probably gonna find me. And they are going to kill you all. Excited?"

Nanoha turned to Lindy, and said, "Did I do all right?"

Lindy smiled reassuringly. "I do love it when the Good Cop is so insanely Good you don't even need a Bad Cop."

"... … … … you _played _me?" Amaterasu said, looking impressed despite herself. "Wow, kid, that was some very well-faked sincerity."

"It wasn't fake," Nanoha said, pouting. "But I'm glad we know, now. We're gonna need to be ready if we're going to catch those two, huh?"

"... wait, what?" Amaterasu said. "You did hear what I just told you, right? Look, we're the children of Al Sethis. The closer that world gets to physical reality, the more we can draw our power from it. They're not at full strength yet, but no human mage is a match for them, I can promise you that much. You're in _ridiculous _danger by keeping me locked up in one pl-"

"They're our friends," Nanoha said, in a tone that brooked no argument.

"They ain't _my _friends," Vita muttered.

"What Vita means is that we aren't going to let your siblings take you back without a fight," Fate said diplomatically. "But more than that... well, they aren't bad people. And the way you said it makes it sound like you've found out something they need to know. So if they won't believe you..."

"We'll _force them _to believe!" Nanoha proclaimed. "Sometimes, you need to talk with your will to fight before you can talk with words. If that's the case, then no matter _how _strong they are, we'll do whatever we have to if it will make them listen to us!"

"She's doing it again," Chrono whispered.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Yuuno whispered right back.

Amaterasu blinked, her eyes sweeping the room to see every face set just as resolutely as the two girls. "You... you kids are _crazy_, you know that? Seriously nuts. But... but... thank you. Thank you, really. And... I promise. If you really do back up your word on this, I will..."

She took a deep breath. "On my honor as the Captain of the Royal Guard, a General of the Imperial Navy, and as the Knight of the Sun, I shall trust you with my life and the lives of my family. I will tell you all, holding nothing back. You have my word."

Vita muttered something like, "Word of a backstabbing fire-harpy..."

"You are a horrid little thing, you know that? Try to act cuter, you're upsetting my demeanor," Amaterasu said, sticking out her tongue in Vita's general direction.

Hayate smiled warmly. "I've been on the wrong side of things too, once. I know it can be hard to find your way out, and... well, having people care enough to drag you out is a lot of help."

Signum shrugged and closed your eyes. "I dislike you. But I do owe your brother a rematch, and it impugns my honor to let that debt remain unsettled. I shall join the battle."

"Oh, kitten, you don't have to hide your affection. Look, I'm already tied up..." Amaterasu purred.

Nanoha blinked. "Um... is something going on here that we didn't know about...?"

"I guess it's okay to tell you. Lady Signum and I have been lovers for weeks now," Amaterasu said cheerfully.

"_Let me hurt her!" _Signum snarled, straining against Zafira's attempts to hold her back. _"She can regenerate from nearly anything, so please let me at least get the joy of smashing her face in!"_

"She's a bit shy about it," Amaterasu said, in the tone of one discussing the weather.

"So... you do realize we're trying to help you, and sowing discord among us is not going to improve your situatio,." Lindy said.

Amaterasu smiled. "Sorry. It's just that after Cupcake was all stoic and rigid, I had to make sure I still had my touch."

"... … … 'Cupcake'?"

* * *

Back on Earth, Miyuki sneezed.

* * *

"Oooooooooooooh, nice house!" Susanoo said. "Quaint. Cozy."

"It's a mansion," Arisa muttered.

"Used to living in a paaaaalaaaaaaace," He said in a singsong tone. "But yeah, this'll be _great_. We'll stay out of sight in a guest room so Tsuku can run her search magic. We'll only come out for food or water or if I get kinda bored..."

"That isn't staying out of sight!" Arisa snapped.

"I saved you from a giant raging beast," Susanoo said, the smirkiest smirk anyone had ever seen gracing his lips. "You owe me your _life. _So you have to do what I say, it's a rule."

"... _fine_. My dad is out of the country on a business trip, and mom isn't home until evening most days, so just... be _careful_," Arisa muttered. She was starting to wonder if death wouldn't have been the better long-term option here. It wasn't even that Susanoo was a really bad guy, he just... got on her nerves in some indefinable way, even when he _wasn't _holding over her head the fact that he had saved her from a big damn bear. As for Tsukuyomi...

"I care little about our living arrangements, as long as I have a space to sleep and solitude for my casting. With luck, I should be able to locate big sister within a few days, and then we can be on our way," She said. "Also, Arisa Bannings, I should note that if you tell anyone from the Time-Space Administration Bureau that we are staying here, most especially Nanoha Takamachi, I will kill you."

"She's a bit rough around the edges, but she means well," Susanoo said by way of explanation.

"Meep," Arisa said. She was usually more vocal than this, always good for an acid-tongued comment, but she was discovering rapidly that she had, as a major part of her personality, the fact that she didn't want to die. It was admittedly hurting her usual way with words.

"Yeah," Susanoo said, "This is gonna be awesome. Just watch, we'll be like one big happy family in no time at all!"

Tsukuyomi picked up a heavy brass candlestick from a nearby table, and with no visible effort, bent it in half. "That is what I will do to your spine, if you betray us."

"..." Arisa said.

"I thought a visual aid would be helpful to you," Tsukuyomi said.

"Meep."

"So, who wants dinner?" Susanoo said, with a giant smile. "I'm _starving. _Let's order out! Risa-risa, your treat."

Arisa let out a quiet sob.

* * *

Hayate, Yuuno, Lindy, Chrono, and Nanoha sat around the conference table. It was just the five of them because the Wolkenritter had absolutely refused to leave Amaterasu unguarded. Lindy had pointed out, not unreasonably, that even if she _hadn't _been restrained, separated from her device, and under a upper-tier power limiter that theoretically restricted her to the power of a D- rank mage at the max, this was TSAB headquarters, and there were guards everywhere.

Signum, Zafira, and Shamal had been polite enough not to laugh at the notion that the TSAB 'guards' were actually any kind of real security at all in a situation like this. Vita was not that polite.

As for Fate, she had of course wanted to come to the meeting, but all these medical treatments had left Arf really hungry. Fate was a responsible dog owner, first and foremost.

"So," Lindy said. "I need someone who isn't Nanoha to let me know if we should actually trust even the coerced word we got from our guest."

"Why someone who isn't me?" Nanoha pouted.

"You're too nice. Chrono? Hayate? I need the second opinion of someone devious."

"... I can be devious if I really try..." Nanoha muttered, while Yuuno patted her on the shoulder.

"I think we need to keep her under lock and key, clearly," Chrono said. "At least until we can confirm her story."

Hayate shrugged. "She was really hurt when Nanoha's family found her, which makes me inclined to believe her, but I guess it isn't really proof."

"It's no proof at all. She's not human, she can be repaired from almost anything. None of those injuries were truly life-threatening," Chrono said. "But... we have to accept the possibility that she's telling the truth, because frankly? We don't really have many options. The fleet is preparing for war as we speak, but we can't be sure what form the attack will take, not really. If she's really gone rogue, she could be an invaluable source of information. Information we desperately need."

"Agreed," Lindy said cheerfully. "We proceed cautiously, but we proceed. I personally feel that our next step should be to move her. This location is, it has been proven, not secure. If she is telling the truth, then the other two will be coming for her, and if they do? I would prefer that confrontation not occur in a place with hard vacuum on the other side of the wall."

"But where would we move her?" Chrono asked. "It would have to be somewhere with an existing magical infrastructure. Somewhere we could keep her contained and hidden."

"Not a Bureau holding facility, though," Lindy interjected. "These walls have ears, eyes, and I strongly suspect _hands_. Our guest was right about one thing... there are factions of our own organization that simply cannot be trusted, and until we know more, I'm afraid we have little choice but to consider those factions to be anyone outside of our own personal circle of acquaintances."

Hayate thought about this for a moment. "Um. Well. I have a place... it fits the description perfectly and I doubt anyone would think about it, as long as we can get her out of here and into it quietly enough. Signum's not gonna be happy about it, though."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be able to convince her of whatever it is?" Nanoha said hopefully.

**Five minutes later...**

"No. Absolutely not. Under no circumstances. Not at all, never, this shall not happen while I still draw breath," Signum said.

"It's only for a few days, and it's the safest place," Hayate said.

"Mistress. You know I am loyal. You _know _I will always submit to your wisdom in the end. But... but this time, you ask too much of me!" Signum snapped, her face reddening in shame at the admission. "I... I cannot... she profanes that place, mistress. Poisons the memory of it with her... her_self_. We cannot permit this to happen, cannot allow her to sink her dark and vile influence into the source of those holy memories."

Hayate rolled her eyes. "Signum, aren't you being a bit too dramatic? I'm just suggesting we store her in my old house for a little while."

"And I _don't want her to know where I live_," Signum said, her eyes wide with terror.

"Be reasonable. Most of Shamal's old wardings are still in place, and it would be easy for her to reinforce them. And Uncle Graham was very cautious about his surveillance... nothing from the main Bureau can look in on it, all of it was routed through him. Ironically, the fact that _he _knew about it makes it the safest place... everyone else thinks it's too unsafe for us to use it and won't bother to check," Hayate said cheerfully.

"... but it's _her_," Signum said, unable to think of a more convincing argument. In her mind, this was the most damning reason.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but I kind of already had Vita and Shamal go tell her and prep her, so..." Hayate began.

She was then cut off by the door opening. Amaterasu, still in a medical gown, burst into the room, Vita and Shamal each hanging off one leg. "_I GET TO LIVE WITH KITTEN?!" _She squealed, her face alight with what could only be referred to as 'maniacal joy'.

"... she's _very _enthusiastic," Shamal said, by way of explanation.

Hayate blinked a few times. "Isn't the infirmary halfway across the station...?"

"_Very _enthusiastic," Shamal said again.

Signum did not start crying. But it was a close thing.

* * *

Arisa opened her eyes, and smiled.

_Of course_, she thought. _It was obviously all a dream. Real people don't get randomly attacked by bears on the highway in Japan and saved by wizards. None of what happened yesterday actually happened. I had a silly dream. Silly, silly dreaming Arisa, you silly girl. Tee-hee. I will go downstairs right now, and the maids will have breakfast waiting for me, and I will go to school and everything will be chipper and full of delicious ordinariness._

She put on her robe, and walked down the steps. She passed a maid on her way, who gave her an appropriate nod of respect, as was ordinary. Yes, ordinary. Ordinary was good, ordinary was strong and proud. Maybe, she mused, _everything _had been a dream! She would go to school, and Nanoha wouldn't be constantly running off to fight monsters. She would be running off to fight math, at the most. Because everyone knew that magic didn't...

"Gooooooooooooooood morning, Risa-risa!" Susanoo said, leaping into her line of sight from out of freakin' nowhere.

"GACK!" Arisa said eloquently, falling backwards. "Y-you... what?! Why?! There was _no _reason for that!"

"It was fun!" he said cheerfully, his face split in a giant, totally guileless smile. "I got to say 'good morning' and you squeaked in a silly way!"

"... I hate everything about life." Arisa said.

"... even breakfast? Because I made breakfast! It was hard in an unfamiliar kitchen, of course, but I'm pretty confident in the flavor!" he said cheerfully.

"... I think I'll wait for lunch," Arisa said.

"No, you won't!" Susanoo said even cheerfullier, picking Arisa up and carrying her to the dining room over his shoulder.

"_Hey! You're supposed to be a guest, here! No manhandling the hostess!_" she snapped.

"Technically, I'm not a guest! I'm holding you hostage!" Susanoo replied, sounding much happier than this sentence really should have sounded.

"I... wish I had a comeback for that." Arisa sighed, resigning herself to being dragged about like a sack of potatoes.

* * *

Hayate flicked the lights on. "Aaaaaaaah... home sweet home!"

Signum flicked the lights off. "Mistress, until we confirm the wardings are fully restored and lay a veil over the residence, we must give no sign that we have returned to this place. Any witnesses at all could spell the doom of this plan."

Amaterasu flicked the lights on. "WHOOOOOOO! Finally, out of the hospital and r-e-a-d-y to plaaaaaaaaay! I could use a bath, who wants to join me? All are welcome, but I gotta warn you, I prefer to finish my baths dirtier than when I started, if you get my meaning," She purred.

Vita tackled her around the waist as Signum frantically batted at the light switch again. "You _idiot_! Can you not listen to me for _five seconds _when your own life is in danger? Are you truly _that _childish and self-centered?!"

"... well, yes," Amaterasu said, seemingly unbothered by the small girl twisting her arm behind her back. "I'm a horrible person. You knew that."

"I suppose my mind is simply trying very hard to suppress any information related to _you_," Signum growled. "Vita, feel free to break her legs if you need to."

"Flirt," Amaterasu purred.

"... I am going to secure the upstairs." Signum said, sighing sadly. "Keep her down here, and keep her from _touching _anything."

"You can get off me now, deceptively cute bunny thing. I promise I'll be good until I see a chance to be bad," Amaterasu said cheerfully.

"... You are a creepy, creepy lady, you know that?" Vita asked, stepping off of the pinned woman. "Ugh. I should go wash my hands, don't know where you've been."

"That reminds me... Hayate, wasn't it?" Amaterasu asked. "There was something wanted to yell at you about, because it was horrible and you were horrible."

"... … okay..." Hayate said. Considering that she had never before had a genuine conversation with the woman in front of her, she wasn't exactly sure what she'd done, nor why it was so important it had to be shared with her _now_, while she was in her own darkened home waiting while her knights ran a security sweep of it.

"The tiny angry bunny person," Amaterasu said. "The small one in red. You have committed a _great crime_."

"... what."

"You took that intensely angry, furious, hateful ball of irritation... and you _dressed her up so cute!_" Amaterasu said, as if this were some horrifying crime. "Bunny hat! Frilly dress! _Pigtails! _She is beyond adorable! I wanna snuggle-wuggle her! But then you get close and she's a _demon spawn. _She tried to beat me to death with a giant hammer, and more than that she was _rude_."

"... so?"

"So? _So?!" _Amaterasu shrieked. "You have dressed her in a costume that does _not suit her!_"

This last, it must be noted, was said in the same tone as a more normal person would have said, "You have launched a nuclear bomb at an city full of nothing but babies!"

And yet, despite this... heinous?... accusation, Hayate merely smirked. "Vita? Could you come back in here, please?"

"Yeah, Hayate?" Vita asked, poking her head back in through the door into the living room.

"I'm afraid that, in the interests of security, you'll have to sleep on the couch while we're here. You know, to keep an eye on the first floor," Hayate said.

Vita's eyes widened as if she had been punched. "Oh. Um. Well, I... yeah, I guess that makes... it's just, I mean... home, in the old bed, I thought that maybe I could... but no, I guess security is... um... well, I guess... I mean..."

Amaterasu watched with awe. _Transformed from bitter avatar of beatings to stammering, adorable wreck with... with a single sentence...! "_She... gods, she is _perfect_. The outfit that originally seemed inappropriate was actually hinting at the cute, snuggly little girl hiding within! It all fits perfectly, and I never even suspected for a heartbeat!"

Her gaze turned to Hayate, her eyes filled with reverence. "You... young lady, I apologize. I thought you to be a poor judge of adorable costuming, but in fact you may be a genius far exceeding myself. And so young! You have nowhere to go but up, and I hope that I can be present to see your ascension."

Hayate cast a pleased smile of triumph at the unreasonably astonished woman. "Well, I've had some advantages. For starters, it's clear that you had never heard of a tsundere, so you've never thought out how to properly design outfits for one. It's tricky, but then, Japan is the world's center for such things. Cosplay is in my blood."

"Tsundere," Amaterasu said, as if tasting the word. "Cosplay? These words... I don't know them. They aren't in any of the language files I downloaded but... but they feel somehow familiar."

Hayate wheeled up next to her and laid a reassuring hand on hers. "My anime and VN collection is still in storage upstairs. Once security is made certain, I have much to teach you."

Amaterasu shed a tear of joy. "Oh, Lady Hayate... there is so much I do not know, and I never even knew that I didn't know it! If... if the worst occurs, and I am not able to return to my own home, would you please allow me to serve as your knight? Truly, I can think of no more fitting mistress than you!"

"_No!" _said... well, _screamed_... a voice from halfway across the house. Signum rushed into the room, her eyes wide with terror. "No! She may remain here as a prisoner for a time, but I refuse to live under the same roof as that woman in peacetime, much less ever count her as a Wolkenritter! This _must _not be allowed to occur!"

Hayate sighed. "Signum, this meeting was clearly preordained by a greater destiny. She _belongs _with us. And I'm sure she doesn't mean you any harm!"

"I would actually derive pretty much equal joy from killing her or having sex with her. Whichever comes first," Amaterasu said with absolutely zero shame. "I find the two options equally appealing."

"... well, I'm sure we'll wean her off of the murdering thing," Hayate said, her expression suggesting she was erasing that last comment from her memory, unwilling to give up her new partner in nerdiness without a fight.

"If we're not enemies and officially become allies, I would of course focus exclusively on the romantic side of things," Amaterasu purred.

"See? Problem solved!"

"Mistress, perhaps you have missed the implications here, but the... 'romantic'... aspects are what I object to! I would much rather she try to kill me, thank you!" Signum said, her tone one of purer despair than Hayate thought she had ever heard from her.

Hayate shook her head, smiling warmly. "Oh, silly Signum. A Loveable Sex Maniac is just the character that our ensemble needed!"

Signum's heart fell. When the Mistress got to thinking in anime tropes, there was no reasoning with her.

"Yay! Can I dress up in cute costumes too? Something with a short skirt!" Amaterasu squealed.

"Can you? Why, I insist!" Hayate said, her eyes glimmering with joy as new designs leaping to her mind. "To my bedroom! Let's start picking out knee socks!"

"Huzzah!" Amaterasu cheered, pushing Hayate's wheelchair along maybe a little faster than was safe.

"This is Hell, then? I'm in Hell." Signum murmured sadly.

"So... wait, am I sleeping on the couch or not?" Vita asked.

* * *

Arisa let out a small thud as she was unceremoniously plopped down into the chair.

"Breakfast is porridge!" Susanoo said proudly, pointing to a bowl of grayish-green... ooze. "I made it myself from wonderful things, and it is extremely healthy. _Eat_."

"... … … Not hungry," Arisa said, observing the oddly purplish smoke rising from the bowl.

"Risa, you will never grow as a person if you aren't open to new experiences!"

"Like dying? Because that looks like the experience I'll be getting from it is death," Arisa said flatly.

"Risk is a part of life!" Susanoo stated, with what he probably felt was a bold gesture. "You must take risks in order to win the greatest of rewards!"

"He does have a point, Arisa," Suzuka said happily from down the table.

"... Suzuka?! When did you...?!"

"Oh, I arrived this morning for a surprise visit, and Mr. Susa answered the door," Suzuka said cheerfully. "He then told me I couldn't leave, and yanked me in here and locked me in the dining room for breakfast."

"... you... you don't seem as bothered by this as you should be." Arisa said.

"Well, I'm learning to take such things in stride, what with Nanoha and Fate being so caught up in such odd things. I think it's probably best to just go with the flow," Suzuka said with a warm smile. "Besides, I was hoping to spend a few hours here anyway, if you were free. He _did _make breakfast. Though... admittedly, not a particularly appealing breakfast."

"Awwwwwwwwww, Suzu! It's a super-awesome breakfast that I cooked with care and devotion!" Susanoo whimpered. "And _exotic, _too! A special recipe from my homeland! Granted, I couldn't get the right ingredients so I had to improvise a bit, but I'm sure it's fine! Maybe even better!"

"Actually, it..." Suzuka began, only to be cut off by a spoon full of goop being shoveled into her mouth.

She choked a bit, before her mind realized she should be chewing.

She chewed. Her eyes widened.

Several seconds passed in silence.

"Huh," she said. "It's good."

Arisa blinked a few times in confusion, not quite sure she'd heard what she heard. "Excuse me...?"

"It's good. It's _really _good," Suzuka said, the words coming from her mouth seeming to surprise even herself. "Amazing, even. I don't... I don't know what to say. It doesn't taste like anything I've ever had before. Definitely doesn't taste like porridge. But it's _good_. Just the right combination of sweet and tartness, and... and warm, but not spicy, somehow, and... and it's just _good_. I don't get it."

"Why do you sound so shocked?" Susanoo asked irritably. "I was a servant to royalty for 1,800 years, of course I know how to cook."

"Well... you just... don't seem the type," Arisa said diplomatically, avoiding the more obvious statement 'But you're such a moron'. Her mind was racing, still trying to wrap around the thought she might actually enjoy eating the... thing... in front of her. On the one hand, Suzuka was currently in the process of devouring hers with gusto, but on the other, _the steam was purple. _

"Just goes to show was _you _know, Risa-risa!" he said, wagging a finger in mock disappointment. "I'll have you know that we have _many _talents! I can cook and clean with the best of them, and even sew clothes and polish expensive jewelery! Why, I'd say that I'm the most powerful butler the universe has ever known!"

"How... nice?"

"And my sisters are also pretty amazing! Why, did you know Amaterasu is a champion-level ballroom dancer? She used to have a whole case full of trophies! And Tsukuyomi, why she is very probably an amazing artist!"

"... probably?"

"Well, it's like... there was a lot of art in her room. Sculptures and paintings and stuff. But Tsuku always seemed as confused as everyone else as to where it came from," Susanoo said. "So she's either a really weird artist, or a really weird thief."

"... … … so your whole family is completely insane, then?"

"All the best ones are!" Susanoo said.

* * *

Tsukuyomi sat in silence.

The air in the small guest room was still; so much so the girl floating cross-legged in the center of it, wreathed in light, might well have been a statue. Her eyes were closed, her breath was shallow to the point of nonexistence, her hands were motionlessly laid upon her staff, which in turn lay horizontally across her lap. On the outside, there was no activity, nor had their been for several hours.

But behind those closed eyes, her mind raced across the cosmos.

World after world, her search spell wandered. She had indeed found traces of Amaterasu's power upon this world, but only a tiny spark and it had since vanished. So she branched out. Searching through every world that Amaterasu might have gone to under her own power. There weren't that many...

the traces of her on this world were weak. Her powers had been limited when she was here.

_Which makes _some_ sense. If she is truly malfunctioning, her executive access to the Twilight Star would have been temporarily revoked. Her powers will be restricted to 20% of maximum. But... I still feel they should be stronger than that. Was she wounded? _Tsukuyomi thought, her mind struggling to follow up on the tiny, flickering silvery trail of her sister's magic. The thought was... disturbing. Her Majesty had mentioned nothing about Amaterasu being _physically _damaged before or during her flight; why had such a detail not been shared?

The implications were worrisome, but less immediately so than the fact that Amaterasu's magical trail had vanished the second she had left earth. There were two options. Big sister was dead, which... which did not bear thinking about further, and so it could not be the case. Which left only the option that she had been captured by someone who possessed a magically warded location to imprison her.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn.

Tsukuyomi's first instinct was to prepare a teleport to the TSAB's HQ station, rip through the wards and tear the place open like a tin can until she found her big sister. This was a childish and more to the point Susa-ish reaction, and so she ignored it. … Besides, it wouldn't work, the wards were much too strong for her to get through on her own.

She would need a more intelligent and elegant plan, and she would need to phrase it in such a way that Susanoo paid attention to it. This would be difficult.

She would also, although it was not in the strictest sense _needed_, like some breakfast, which she hoped would be easier given the overall high economic status of their current quarters. She stood up, and walked out of the room.

Tsukuyomi had no problems finding the dining room despite the unfamiliar building. She always knew where she was, and really didn't understand people who didn't.

"Ah," she said. "We have a guest."

Suzuka murmured something through a mouthful of (What Tsukuyomi noticed with something not unlike joy) Susanoo's famous _eska_ porridge. Big brother had cooked breakfast, this was very good. Very good.

"Mornin', Tsuku!" he said cheerfully, tugging the rope he was using to tie Arisa to her chair so he could shove some porridge down her throat.

"I'm not gonna eat it!" Arisa shrieked, fighting against her bonds.

"It is healthy and delicious!" Susa informed her.

"Mmm msss!" Suzuka said through another mouthful.

"Where did that rope even come from...?" Tsukuyomi asked.

"We're having breakfast!" Susa said by way of explanation.

Tsukuyomi shrugged and sat down. She had long ago learned not to question such things too deeply. Occasionally, it led to her _learning the real reason_, and that was to be avoided when it applied to big brother and especially big sister.

_Ah, yes, big sister. I had a report to deliver._

"I have not found big sister, and also I am hungry. Wherever she is, it is heavily warded from search magic, and someone should please pass the food. I can continue to search, but I doubt I will find anything I have not already located, and someone please pass me a clean bowl," she said, seamlessly meshing her two goals in entering this room.

Susanoo sighed, and said, "Well... I'm not 100% sure I understand what you just said. But it doesn't sound promising, anyway."

"I believe there are two **:**munch, munch: possibilities," Tsukuyomi said, in between bites. "First, she has been... deactivated..."

"She's not _dead_, we would _know_."

"Agreed. In which case, we must assume that Amaterasu has been captured by agents of the TSAB."

"Which would be good in the sense that they will not kill her, and bad in the sense we would have to go through some staunch resistance to get her back," Susanoo said, his expression growing gloomy. "I was sorta hoping to not have to hurt those guys anymore..."

"Do you want to back out of the operation, Susa?" Tsukuyomi asked flatly.

"Never. It's Ammy. I like those kids well enough, but she's blood. If we have to go through them, we go through them," Susanoo said very, very coldly.

"You're talking about our friends, you lunatics!" Arisa snapped. "How can you just-"

"Risa-risa, you're a very nice kid, but you don't get it. You can't," Susanoo said flatly. "Almost 2,000 years, we've been alive. When you live that long... people come and go so fast it feels like you barely got to know them before they're gone. You learn to keep attachments superficial. But when someone comes along that can actually live out the years with you, well... I don't like Ammy all that much sometimes, but I do love her. More than I can put into words. And if I have to crack this entire _planet _in half to save her, _I will do it."_

He laid a hand on Arisa's shoulder, and her eyes widened at the simple, obvious power in the limb. "Do you understand?" he asked softly.

Arisa began to realize something at that moment. So far, the whole situation had been more like very annoying relatives coming to visit, and so she hadn't really pondered it, even with the oddly friendly death threats from the girl the night previous. But realistically... she was in just as much danger right this moment as she had been when that bear had been roaring down on her. And she was getting the impression that Nanoha and Fate were in even more.

Arisa usually didn't allow herself to be intimidated. But it wasn't just her at stake here... they had Suzuka now too. She didn't reply out loud; just nodded.

"Good girl," Susanoo said with a small smile. It didn't look all that friendly anymore.

"But she does have a point, albeit not the one she wanted to make, Susa," Tsukuyomi said, attempting to calm her brother somewhat. Susanoo was... scary when he got angry, and she knew him well enough. He hid it well, but he wouldn't have threatened a civilian, or even gone off on Precia as he had, in normal circumstances. He had been on the edge of a berserk rage since the moment Amaterasu disappeared, and it would take very, very little to make him do something he would regret deeply when he was in a more stable mood. "Smashing down the TSAB's front door is tempting, but probably not wise. We should be more subtle about it."

Susanoo sighed. "Yes. Of course. How do you mean?"

"Well... we do have some contacts in the TSAB," Tsukuyomi said. "We do have some ways of getting in contact with them discreetly."

Her gaze travelled from Suzuka, to Arisa, and back again. "And we _do _have some hostages they value."

Suzuka swallowed her latest spoonful. "Can we please finish breakfast first?"

"Well, I don't see why not."

Arisa, still tied to her chair, cast a very, very annoyed glance at her best friend. "They're threatening to kill us. You might be taking this a bit _too _calmly, Suzuka."

"I'm hungry! And the porridge is _good _if you'd just try it..."

_"I have my pride."_

* * *

The day passed, and with it came the most traumatizing reminder that any young hero can face: School is still a thing.

Nanoha took her usual seat next to Fate and sighed. "You know... it's very, very hard to focus on this stuff right now. Math, and literature, and... the universe might be ending. And none of these people even know it!"

"Huh?" asked the class rep, who was walking past to take attendance.

"They cancelled my favorite TV show," Nanoha said without missing a beat. "Just feels like the end of the universe, right? Silly, I know."

"Ah, too bad, Takamachi," The boy said, continuing on his rounds.

"Nanoha, do you ever feel that maybe we're a little too good at this whole... double life thing?" Fate asked a little sadly.

"Oh, I don't know," Nanoha said cheerfully. "I think it's kind of fun, now that my family is in on it."

"Your family... well, I guess they are a bit unique."

"No, they're a bit _weird_," Nanoha said with a giggle. "Which is why I fit right in with them. This life suits me like nothing else!"

"All right, everyone, eyes forward," The teacher called from the front of the room. "Now, I've got some good news and some bad news. It seems Ms. Tsukimura will not be joining us today... Ms. Bannings said she's fallen ill while spending the night at her house, so please, everyone send Suzuka your best wishes, everyone."

_Nanoha, why wouldn't Arisa or Suzuka have contacted us to let us know that? _Fate asked instantly, her psychic voice sharp. _Something seems off about this. _

_Something is definitely wrong, but what? _Nanoha agreed.

"But on the bright side of things, we have a guest! Arisa's cousin from America is visiting her, and while it's slightly irregular, she has gotten permission to sit in on classes while she's here so she doesn't fall behind in her studies!" The teacher continued cheerfully. "Arisa, why don't you bring her in?"

Arisa entered from the hall, not looking very happy at all about having family visiting. Another girl followed her. The usual chorus of interest at a new student burst out.

"Oooooooh, I love her hair!" said one girl.

"A tattoo at her age? America really is different!" said another.

"She's cute! Too bad she isn't staying here long," said a grinning boy in the back row.

"Uh-oh," Nanoha said.

"Hullo. My name is Tessa Bannings. I am apparently American. According to my research, the traditional greeting for this situation is something to the effect of 'please treat me kindly'," Tsukuyomi said, bowing lightly.

_I think we've spotted what's wrong, _Fate thought.


	35. Calm

**Author's Note: An update in a reasonable timeframe? MADNESS.**

**Well, see my author profile for the reason why. I have a little more time to write lately, since I'm trying to write professionally now; only e-books at the moment, because it's really cheap to do and I have no author cred in the world of original fiction yet. XD **

**Two works have been published, with a third in editing. Links can, again, be found on my author profile... they're very cheap, and any support is appreciated. I hope you read and enjoy. **

**Yes, this is shameless, shameless self-promotion, but you all knew I had no shame, so... yeah. And the more I sell, the more time I have to write fanfiiiiic...**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-five: Calm**

Nanoha and Fate reacted on instinct, reaching for their devices, before the painful realization that starting a fight here would be a very, very bad plan. _Nanoha, I'm going to put up a barrier, you try to... _Fate began, her superior combat experience taking over, before she was cut short by a reply not from her friend, but from the blue-haired girl at the head of the class.

_Do not react, _Tsukuyomi's telepathic voice sounded in her ears. _Do not reply. Do not speak telepathically at all. I spent most of this morning on the roof working detection spells in a web around this school, and am activating them all... _A brief, low-key thrumming that set Nanoha and Fate's teeth on edge echoed through their minds. _… **now. **If any magic but my own is active on school grounds, I will know, and I will assume it to be you contacting your allies. And if I make that assumption, please understand that it **will **lead to a confrontation, and I cannot in any way guarantee the safety of these students. Nod if you understand._

Wordlessly, Nanoha and Fate each gave a single nod of their heads.

_Good. Now, we will meet on the school roof during the first free period this afternoon to discuss, in private, just exactly what you have done with my sister. If you do not attend, please understand that the physical health of young Miss Bannings be in significant jeopardy, _Tsukuyomi said. _Miss Bannings, you have my permission to tell them what I told you._

_Hi, Nanoha. Hi, Fate_, Arisa thought miserably. _She, um, she did something magical and... well, there's a small snake that's really hard to see wrapped around my arm under my uniform. And she said that if it bites me, its venom will... erm... kill me in less than two minutes..._

_It is quite a horrible way to die, I understand_, Tsukuyomi confirmed. _So let us all simply go through the morning classes and make sure it does not have to happen. _

"Well, Miss Bannings," the teacher said, "why don't you have your cousin sit next to you in Suzuka's seat?"

"... does she have to?" Arisa asked dully.

"Come, cousin. Let us sit in those student receptacles and commence education," Tsukuyomi said somewhat breezily, grabbing Arisa's hand and dragging her with somewhat disturbing ease to the two empty seats on the side wall. Upon depositing Arisa, seemingly at random, in one, and sitting in the other, she turned to the teacher. "Honored instructor, we have installed in the provided student seating area, and are fully prepared to begin download. You may now begin the information transfer session, and we shall learn."

"... what?"

"Do you not download knowledge into our minds? Is that not the point of this institution?" Tsukuyomi asked in confusion.

"I... well, if you mean class, I was going to start the lecture shortly, yes..."

"Ah, Lecture. Rather than direct download, you stand at the front of the room and speak to us, imparting the knowledge indirectly to be absorbed through simple observation. How quaint. I find this quite an amusing notion, if admittedly a touch inefficient," Tsukuyomi said, nodding in comprehension at this charming old-fashioned concept. "Very well. In order to better 'go native', as the saying on this world is, I shall follow along with local education customs. Please lecture us, honored teacher, and we shall listen to your words and become educated."

"O-okay..."

"_Academically _educated_,_" Tsukuyomi said, as if this detail somehow made anything better.

"... sure. Well, Miss Tessa, the first class of the day will be Mathematics, so if you would like to look at your cousin's text book..."

Without a word, Tsukuyomi stood up, walked to the dry-erase markerboard, and began to write.

"Um... um... Miss Bannings, if you could please tell your cousin to return to her desk, lessons are about to..." the teacher began, before actually looking at what Tsukuyomi was writing on the board and tilting her head to one side in confusion. "Wait, what is that she's drawing...?"

**Seventeen minutes later...**

Tsukuyomi put the last marking on the board, setting down the marker. "I have completed mathematics, honored teacher. Will this display be sufficient to achieve a passing grade?"

The entirety of the class, Nanoha and Fate included, the teacher, and several other faculty members from other rooms stood wide-eyed.

The board was very nearly literally covered; not merely in numbers, but in sigils, bizarre runes that seemed to absorb the light in the room, and an intricately diagrammed fractal pattern that appeared to be moving on its own despite being a drawing on a board.

"Did... did she just solve the Hodge Conjecture...?" one teacher whispered.

"No, that's impossible, I mean, it's a Millennium Prize problem and she's... what, ten years old...?"

"But I mean, just look at this! I've been teaching my whole life and I... _look at it! _If anything, it looks too _complicated _to be 'just' the Hodge Conjecture...!"

"It's just math. I mathed it," Tsukuyomi said mildly.

"I e-mailed it to my friend teaching at Tokyo University, and he's talking about Nobel Prizes," another said, in a dull, dead sort of voice. "She's _ten, _and she's doing work that confuses college professors on an elementary school blackboard. How could a natural mathematical prodigy of her caliber have existed without somebody finding out before now?!"

"It's just math," Tsukuyomi said insistently. "Honestly, the only reason nobody solved it before now is that your planet seems to have no concept of Vencaul's 5th Dimensional Magi-Physical Transmutation Principle, which is a bit sad. I mean, it's at least tangentially connected to nearly a third of modern equations in any beginner's textbook..."

"Hahahahahaha!" Nanoha laughed loudly and somewhat nervously, walking up to the front of the room. "Oh, those crazy Americans and their pranks!"

"This is not a prank, Ms. Takamachi! This is a revolutionary step in the field of mathematics, and..."

"Ooops!" Arisa said, running an eraser up and down the board several times. "I tripped and fell on the drawing and now it's gone."

"Also, when she said 'your world' it was hyperbole," Fate said calmly. "She was just drawing random silly things, as is customarily done in American schools."

"No it..." one of the teachers began.

"It was just math," Tsukuyomi insisted. "I sometimes do math. It is not complicated."

"... of course," he finished, something about Tsukuyomi's tone and expression making it very, very hard to picture her as a genius right that moment. "I mean... we must have been... well, I'm sure we just imagined things. I mean, now that isn't on the board anymore, I feel silly and... oddly, my head doesn't hurt anymore now that I'm no longer looking directly at it..."

"That's because it was nothing important and you should forget you ever saw it," Nanoha said helpfully.

"I... yes... that..." one of the adults began, before trailing off into nothing. It was so hard to _think_, as though the ghost of the numbers was still affecting their brains in some way, but of course that would just be silly. "I'm... I'm sure that we all just... imagined it... simultaneously. Yes, that makes... sense? Or, wait, no... I'm so confused..."

"It was just math," Tsukuyomi said. "I hope that I got a passing grade."

* * *

"So," Susanoo said, looking across the table at Suzuka. "I'm bored. Are you bored?"

"A bit, but I thought it was rude to say so," Suzuka admitted. "I'm not sure what hostage etiquette is, honestly."

"I think you're mostly supposed to cry pitifully, so as to demonstrate your pitiability," Susanoo suggested. "Begging for mercy or cursing your captor are also very popular choices."

"Oh. Um. I really don't like the sound of any of those, if we're being totally honest," Suzuka said.

"Well, I don't blame you. They sound pretty tedious."

"Is there something else we could do? We could watch a movie, or maybe look into Arisa's game systems, or..."

"Hey, wanna take a door off its hinges, use it as a makeshift sled, and slide down those big stairs near the main hallway?"

"... … that would be a very, very silly thing to do," Suzuka said.

_**Five minutes and one door later...**_

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

* * *

Lindy and Chrono walked down the street, the very model of a happy family, except Chrono didn't look happy.

"Admiral..." he began.

"We are out of uniform at the moment, call me 'mom'. Or 'mother'. Or 'mumsie', or 'mommiekins', or..."

"Mother," Chrono interrupted.

"You are no fun, son. I have no son fun," Lindy said cheerfully. "Fun son, son fun. See? I'm like a poet, now."

"You're trying to make me angry, and it won't work," Chrono said firmly. "I just wanted to point out the flaws in this situation."

"Oh, I'm fully aware of the flaws. We can't be sure that Miss Amaterasu is not here as some kind of elaborate ambush or assassination attempt. We cannot be sure her information is accurate. Even if she truly believes her story, she is a machine and thus it might not be true simply by virtue of her mind being tampered with. We have a great deal to worry about," Lindy said cheerfully.

"No, I really meant that there is really no reason for us to get into civilian clothes and go to have lunch at the Yagami house when _dammit, mother, we are trying to help them keep a low profile_."

"... but it's fun," Lindy said. "And I do hear such lovely things about Hayate's cooking."

"Okay, remember when I said I wasn't going to get angry? Turns out I was wrong," Chrono snarled.

"Awwwwwwww, still no Fun Son. Just a... Glum Son? No, that doesn't rhyme," Lindy said. "Well-done, son? No, that implies I've had you cooked. Erm... well, I'm sure something will come to me soon enough. For now, we're here!"

"Oh, goodie."

Lindy rolled her eyes. "So serious, Chrono. Honestly, this is just a routine stop-by, and nothing strange is going to..."

The door opened a second before her knock landed, to reveal Amaterasu. Sort of.

"Welcome to the Yagami residence!" she chirped, smiling brilliantly. "May I take your coats?"

"We... we don't have coats..." Chrono said, blinking.

"No, no!" Hayate said, wheeling up behind her. "You have to call them 'Master' and 'Mistress'! What was the point of dressing you up like a meido if you don't have the attitude?"

"I thought it was that the skirt makes my legs look awesome," Amaterasu said. Whirling a bit to show the maid costume off, she continued, "See? _Really _shows them off. Hot, right? I look great."

"Nobody is disputing that!" Hayate snapped. "But it's part of the cosplay aspect! You have to _become _the character! If you want to dress like that, you need to match the attitude!"

Amaterasu nodded enthusiastically. "Of course, Mistress! Whatever you say!"

Lindy blinked a few times. "I was not aware that domestic servants on this planet wore so... little."

Hayate sniffed. "It is a special model. Personally designed and hand-stitched. Only a real artist would understand."

"It looks like it's from a porn," Chrono said flatly.

"... … well it's definitely impossible a hentai series partially inspired it, because as a small child, I would have no way of legally getting ahold of adult materials like that," Hayate said firmly. "So it must be something innocent and acceptable for all viewing audiences."

"Oh, is that why that one box you got it out of was labeled 'kitchen stuff' instead of 'clothes and computer discs'?" Amaterasu asked.

"Hush, Ammy, we don't mention the kitchen stuff box," Hayate whispered harshly, before raising her voice and saying cheerfully, "Anyway! Admiral Lindy, Chrono, how nice to see you, please come inside and stop asking questions."

"Why are all our friends weird, mom?" Chrono asked sadly.

"I... do not know. I'm really sorry to have to admit that, but..." Lindy replied, for once just as sadly as her son.

"Who wants tea?" Amaterasu asked.

* * *

"It... it doesn't seem possible that a student could done it..." the art teacher said, gazing at the painting in awe. "Reminiscent of Van Gogh at his finest, yet somehow even more... more _alive_..."

"It's so... so beautiful..." Fate said, a tear of joy running down her face. "It makes me feel like I've never really been alive until this moment."

"I feel like I'm on the bottom of the ocean, looking up at the sun shining through the water, just letting it all surround me in a moment of perfect bliss..." Nanoha sighed.

"It's like I can actually smell the salt water, hear the surf in my ears. It's just amazing, like someone managed to trap the ocean in a canvas," Arisa admitted, despite herself. "I bet there are art collectors who would pay hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of yen for it..."

Nor were they the only ones. All through the class, students and, again, many, many teachers called over from neighboring classrooms by a the stunned teacher overseeing the initial class, gazed at the painting in gentle awe, letting the soft, rolling greens and blues wash over them and soothe their minds and souls with its gorgeous tranquility.

At least until the tranquility was suddenly and viciously destroyed, that is.

"It is a very lovely work. Who drew it?" Tsukuyomi asked mildly.

The silence was long, and painful, and filled the room so thickly that not even the awe of the painting could banish it.

"... you did," Nanoha informed her.

Tsukuyomi blinked a few times in apparently genuine surprise. "Really?"

"You... don't remember it?" Fate asked. "You... you sat down and... you painted that..."

"Did she?" Arisa asked. "I... looking back, I mean, she sat down _near _the canvas, but I don't remember her painting anything."

"She must have, she was _right _there and the painting didn't just spontaneously appear!" Nanoha exclaimed. "... did it?"

"I don't recall _not _not painting it," Tsukuyomi said helpfully.

"Wait, what does that even mean?"

"I'm not sure?" Tsuku said. Or asked. It wasn't clear.

"Wait, how do you not know if you painted something?" Arisa asked. "Or _are _you not sure? I can't make heads or tails of what you're saying here."

"What I'm saying has tails?" Tsukuyomi asked.

"... … is this girl insane?" Arisa asked Nanoha.

"I have asked that myself, many times. Indeed, many of her actions have marked her as being mentally unstable, and yet I still find myself oddly fond of her," Tsukuyomi said helpfully.

"_Just because I was looking at Nanoha doesn't mean I was asking the question about Nanoha,_" Arisa snarled.

"Oooooooooooooh," Tsukuyomi said, sounding genuinely surprised by this revelation. "Then who _were _you asking about?"

"... nobody. Nobody at all," Arisa muttered.

"Oh, silly Arisa. There is no reason to ask questions about nobody, because nobody isn't a person," Tsukuyomi said, almost fondly. "Silly Arisa."

"I hate you so much, you have no idea," Arisa growled.

"I don't hate you?" Nanoha offered.

"That's nice," Tsukuyomi said breezily. "Did we ever figure out who painted this lovely piece? It's very nice, I think. I should like to hang it in my room, perhaps."

Nanoha tried very hard not to sob.

* * *

Lindy took some tea, and tried to put on a fake smile. "Erm... thank you, Miss Amaterasu..."

"Oh, please, mistress, master, no need for formalities. Just call me 'Ammy'. Or 'good kitty'," Amaterasu said cheerfully.

"I think I would literally rather kill myself," Chrono said in a kind of horrified fascination.

"Or her. I would cheerfully kill her instead," Signum agreed.

"Nobody on this planet is any _fun_," Amaterasu pouted. "Except of course Lady Hayate, who has been just the most amazing hostess ever. I've learned so much!"

"Can you... can you _please _learn how to put more clothes on?" Lindy requested. "This is really quite distracting."

"Ooooooh, rrrrrrrrrreally?" Amaterasu purred.

"_Not in a good way_."

"... no fun at all."

"In her defense, there's really no reason for us to be here, so we really have nobody to blame but ourselves," Chrono said.

"Hush, Chrono. We don't take blame for things, we're _authority_," Lindy informed him. "And besides, I actually do have a reason for this visit."

"You do? Then why wouldn't you tell me i- no. No, you know, I'm not even going to be surprised when you don't tell me things anymore. I'm just going to start acting on the assumption that I don't know anything at all about what you are planning on any given subject, and will react accordingly," Chrono said.

"You see? I knew you were a clever boy," Lindy said cheerfully. "Now, Miss Amaterasu... and no, I shall not be calling you any sort of nickname..."

"Oh, poo."

"... we have extended to you the hand of considerable trust. Even though you come to us as an enemy, unwillingly, we have given you tremendous freedom," Lindy finished.

"I'm wrapped under so many power limiters I can't so much as light a candle, I don't know where you're keeping Kagutsuchi, and I'm surrounded by armed Belkan Knights at all hours," Amaterasu said.

"And trust me, in comparison to what most of our associates wanted to do to you, that is _tremendous _freedom," Lindy said, her voice taking on a touch of cold iron. "Particularly after you very nearly burned the _arm off _of my daughter's familiar."

"... in my defense, they can fix that..." said weakly.

"And after you immolated Ensign Colclazure."

"... and we gave you like... nanomachines for that..." Amaterasu said, a bit _more _weakly if that was possible.

"They're still being scanned to determine if they are some kind of trap. Or did you think we would allow unregistered nanotechnology to be injected into a living person on your Empress's word alone?" Lindy asked. "That sounds like a wonderful way to end up with a Gray Goo Scenario if it goes poorly."

"... um... just a quick question, if the young man in question dies before the scans are complete..."

"Then you are under arrest for murder," Lindy said very, very coldly.

"...oh, dear."

"And if _that _happens, offering to be a bit more helpful than you _have been _will go a long way towards determining if you ever see the light of day again, or if we shove you onto a space platform in orbit around a gas giant for the rest of eternity," Lindy finished.

"Well, now, in my defense, I _am _a P.O.W., so..."

"The TSAB does not acknowledge the Infinite Empire as a legitimate government, and does not accept any declaration of war they may offer. Your acts have been the acts of terrorists, nothing more and nothing less," Chrono calmly informed her.

"... that attitude," Amaterasu sighed. "is half the reason for our current hostilities, you realize. Terrorists. You really ought to be taking us a bit more seriously than terrorists. Especially now. Lady Enlil is furious, and more than that, she already wasn't herself even before you snubbed her so horribly."

"She was, you might recall, 'offering' us the chance to give her our unconditional surrender and leash ourselves to her military dictatorship until the end of time," Lindy said.

Amaterasu sighed. "Yes. And that was very, very generous of her. She was practically bending over backwards, being _incredibly _polite and giving you a tremendous amount of leeway. If you had just spotted a good deal and jumped on it, things would be _perfect. _Instead, you basically started screaming and throwing feces."

For a moment, the only sound was of everyone in the room blinking in deep confusion.

"Admiral Lindy behaved quite honorably, from what I saw..." Signum said. "She refused a clearly disadvantageous offer and reacted with appropriate disgust to it."

"And not to put too fine a point on it, but your Queen negotiated with all the skill and subtlety of a battering ram. She basically just came right out and informed us we were her slaves now so we might as well roll over and take it," Chrono said flatly.

"What? She was _extremely _polite and noticeably patient with you, until you threw it back in her face and cut off negotiations," Amaterasu said, blinking in her own sudden confusion.

"... I think we are having a failure to communicate," Hayate said, her eyes narrowing. "Ammy... when you say Queen Enlil was polite and patient... by what standards do you mean?"

"Eh? By the standards of the Empire, of course. What others are there?"

"In other words, she was being very, very polite by the standards of a thousand-world stellar empire with a fleet large enough to shatter worlds," Chrono sighed in annoyance. "When you're the biggest, most horrifying person in the world, you don't need to be subtle. Everyone's too scared of you to do anything but exactly what you tell them to, and 'join up willingly and we won't just conquer you' really _is _a decent bargain to get."

"But that makes no sense. She doesn't _have _that power anymore," Lindy said. "She has one world with a lot of guns, and three... well, two now..."

"Oh, sure, rub it in," Amaterasu muttered.

"... mages under her command," Lindy finished. "Where did that confidence come from? Even the option to gather forces to her banner, valid though it might be, it will take her years, probably decades of bloody war to actually defeat the TSAB. And that's _if _she wins. We have a way of putting up a fight."

"No. No, you don't. You have _no idea _what you're up against," Amaterasu informed her bluntly. "And I'm not going to tell you."

"That prison cell is looking good to you, then?" Lindy asked her calmly.

"Only because I know I'll only be in it for the _two weeks_, tops, that it takes for Al Sethis to stabilize into dimensional space. Because once that happens, I am going home to brain-wiped, and _you _are all going to die screaming as Her Majesty brings your tiny, sad little kingdom to heel like the dogs you are," Amaterasu growled. "And now, since you did me the honor of showing me how very _scary _you can be, I will do you the equal honor of showing how hard I am to really, truly frighten. This conversation is over. I made a deal with your little Nanoha, and that deal _stands_. Susa and Tsuku are looking for me right now, I know they are. I can _feel _it. Even through all these wards, even with my magic wrapped in chains, I can feel them in my mind simply by how much they _shine _in comparison to the rabble. Bring them in, alive, and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Lindy gazed at Amaterasu coldly over folded hands. "You're perhaps underestimating that scariness," she said softly.

Amaterasu sighed. "I'm sorry... I think maybe Queen Enlil isn't the only one too used to being instantly horrifying," she said sadly. "How about this? If I don't have Susa and Tsuku in my corner, telling you what's coming won't be much help stopping it regardless. I've had plenty of time to think things over, Admiral, and I can tell you this much: their isn't a whole lot I can _do _to help you prepare for what's to come anyway. Not without a lot more influence than I have. There are a lot of backdoors into the system, you see, including a fair number that even Yggdrasil doesn't know about. It can't block my access to them... but Susa and Tsuku do know, and they _can _block me if they know I'll be trying to access them. The more I ponder it, the more it becomes clear that no plan we can come up with will be of any use without their support."

Lindy and Chrono blinked a few times.

"Mother?"

"Yes, Chrono?"

"That actually sounded like a... a reasonable, sensible excuse," Chrono said.

"I _know_. It's _weird_," Lindy said.

Amaterasu pouted. "Whaaaaaaat? I can be reasonable if I try! I just choose not to be."

Signum sighed sadly. "Why do you think that makes it better?"

* * *

"This is just getting silly," Nanoha said flatly.

"'Getting'?" Arisa asked meaningfully.

"I... I... _look at it!_" Nanoha snapped.

What she was being asked to look at was, for lack of a better term, a feast. There were several courses prepared... a beautiful tossed tomato salad, exquisitely molded sushi rolls, a thick, fragrant stew for the soup, and fresh bread ready by each plate. And the centerpiece, a beautiful, mouthwatering chocolate cake elaborately decorated with chocolate frosting and an eye-catching red icing.

Standing next to it, Tsukuyomi held a single frying pan. "I think it turned out well," Tsukuyomi said, "Though admittedly Susanoo could have done better. I'm afraid I'm not a very skilled chef."

"That isn't the problem!" Nanoha moaned.

"It's not?" Fate asked.

"She... there wasn't the_ ingredients _to do this!" Nanoha snapped with the offended pride of one who has come from a family of chefs. "She didn't have the specialized tools! She didn't have the _time_! It is just physically not possible to put together a meal like this in the time frame of a elementary school home economics class!"

Fate looked over the spread, which had the majority of the class (And, again... several teachers) almost openly drooling. "I guess nobody told _her _that."

"_It doesn't make sense!_" Nanoha protested.

"When does anything, these days?" Arisa asked sadly.

Tsukuyomi pointed to the food. "As I have acquired lunch foods, I feel that now would be a good time to eat lunch,"

"... well, it... it is lunch break..." the home ec professor said, her expression suggesting that she, like Nanoha, was somehow offended by the presence of the stunning gourmet meal that really had no right to be there, but couldn't think of anything bad to say about it in order to make herself feel better. This was in sharp contrast to most everyone else, who just looked hungry.

"Oh, that's good. It makes the decision to eat lunch easier," Tsukuyomi said brightly. She turned her gaze to Nanoha and Fate, and her expression turned to one of intense concentration. "Nanoha Takamachi. Fate Testarossa. Do _not _meet me on the roof, and do _not _come alone. If you _do _show up, I shall _not _be angry."

There was a long, painful silence.

"Do you understand?" Tsukuyomi asked doubtfully. "I had to use subterfuge to disguise my true meaning, so please let me know if you need further hints."

Nanoha sighed a little bit sadly. _Oh dear. She thinks she's being subtle. That's... wow. _

"We'll... we'll get our coats."

* * *

Susanoo went sprawling, the flames ripping into his helpless form, his allies equally helpless to aid him. He tried everything he could; he dodged, leaping into intense acrobatics, but to no avail. Nothing could stop the onslaught of horror that continued to hunt him down into every remote corner of the battlefield. His counter-attacks rolled harmlessly off the enemy like water off a rock. The battle had only just begun, and yet it was immediately clear: there was no victory here.

His stamina critically low, he lashed out with one final, desperate attack. He had no choice in the matter, sadly; nothing he could do truly harmed the enemy, and he had no further means of recovery. All he could do was hope that this, the final attack of his life, would bring the creature down just a few seconds before it destroyed him utterly.

This hope was crushed with contemptuous ease. With a single great attack, the burning demon swatted aside his final effort and struck deep into his heart, shattering his life and sending him into a horrible, screaming death.

Susanoo growled in frustration and threw down the portable game system. "It's no good. I just can't beat that thing."

"Did you try using the walls more efficiently? That's a good way to deal damage with a bit less risk," Suzuka asked warmly.

"Yes! And I tried bringing along more ice attacks, _and_ I tried to fight with hit-and-fade tactics, _and_ I tried getting right up in its face! Nothing _works_. The stupid thing is just way too fast, and it can seriously hit me from like anywhere on the screen, and my little character doesn't block half the time when I tell him to block!" Susa whined. "I guess the gypsies are just plain screwed, because _I _sure can't save them. In fact, I think it's just plain impossible."

Suzuka smiled warmly and picked up the system. "We could try turning the difficulty lower?"

"But... well, I mean, that's a bit embarrassing..."

"Lots of people need to use Easy Mode. There's nothing wrong with it."

"I'm 1,800 years old. I have been to real war hundreds of times. I shouldn't have this much trouble with a simulated one, dammit!" Susa growled. "You know, I think they made it intentionally impossible. I mean, for one thing, who tries to use a giant key in battle? It's not even sharp. And I can't even figure out why he's fighting these monsters anyway. I get the feeling I like, missed a _lot _of the plot."

"It's okay," Suzuka said cheerfully. "It really doesn't make sense even if you play every game. Here, I'll see if I can beat it, so you can keep going."

"Please. If I can't beat it, what makes you think you can? I have finely honed tactical instincts brought on by years on the battlefield, and..." Susa began.

"Okay, done!" Suzuka said cheerfully, handing the game back to Susanoo in time for him to see the creature that had come to haunt his existence dissolve in a shower of light after Suzuka's brief and terribly one-sided brutal beatdown.

"... … … are you magic?" Susanoo asked her in a hushed, reverent tone.

"Oh, no, I just have one of these at home, is all," Suzuka said humbly.

* * *

The four girls stepped onto the school roof, Nanoha and Fate leading the way, followed by Arisa, followed by Tsukuyomi with her hand very meaningfully laid on Arisa's shoulder.

"Thank you for agreeing to this meeting," Tsukuyomi said pleasantly.

"We didn't have much of a choice," Nanoha said, disapproval thick in her voice.

"You always have a choice. You could have abandoned Ms. Bannings, who has zero value as a war asset, and attempted to take me into custody. Fighting two against one, you might even have succeeded; particularly since I never really expected you to try it," Tsukuyomi said, her tone that of one discussing the weather. "So my thanks for not doing so. It makes things much easier on all of us."

Nanoha frowned. "I'm not the sort who would abandon my friends like that. You know that."

"I do," the other girl agreed. "Which is why, when I had to choose someone to push into a corner over this issue... the two of you were the obvious choices. Out of all of your group, you are the weakest. I don't mean in terms of magical power, or combat skill... I mean psychologically. You are easily able to handle your own pain, but when someone you love is threatened, you lose your focus. It's a flaw that's easy to exploit if you notice it."

The air took on the scent of ozone; a pale yellow glow centered around the sealed Bardiche. "Do. Not. Insult. Her," Fate said. Not with any audible anger; on the contrary, she spoke very, very calmly. Let it never be said that she had not learned anything from her mothers; this made it worse.

Tsukuyomi smiled softly. "It wasn't an insult to her. In fact, when you get right down too it... big sister would yell at me, but I'm the same way. My family is a sore spot for even me. I'm afraid with Amaterasu missing, even my focus is a bit frayed. I'm having to engage in tactics I find distasteful."

Arisa gave a soft squeal of pain.

"And if you don't power down immediately, I'll engage in one more," Tsukuyomi said mildly. "Battle should not include civilian casualties. But this isn't war, what we have here. It's family. There's nothing I won't do for that."

"Everyone, calm down," Nanoha said softly. "We're just here to talk. Fate? Don't unseal your device. Tsukuyomi... I am willing to listen to what you have to say. But if you hurt Arisa... I will never, ever forgive you. Understand that right now."

Tsukuyomi nodded. "So noted."

Nanoha's eyes widened. "I... see."

"What is the problem? Is there something you do not understand about this arrangement?"

"I just... well. I thought I understood you better than this," Nanoha said, her voice so full of sadness Fate could feel her own heart aching. "You know I wouldn't hurt your sister. If you wanted to talk to me, you didn't have to threaten anyone. I would have listened. I'm... disappointed."

Tsukuyomi winced. Or at least, she gave an expression which was, for her, similar to a wince. Outwardly, it was more of a twitch to her eye. "I... am sorry. I didn't think this would be needed, but I am not... good with people. I couldn't take the risk that I would be wrong. You must understand that, if it is for my family, there is nothing I will not do. No depths I will not sink to. Susa is the same way. When you get right down it, family is the only one who will always be there for you,"

Nanoha smiled, but it wasn't a happy expression. "I know how worried you must be. But that's not an excuse..."

"I understand," Fate said. "When you love someone, you want to do whatever you can to help them, don't you? Even if you know it's wrong. Even if your conscience tells you there must be another way. If you really love them, you push through the doubts and do what you think you have to. It's normal, and it's understandable, and that doesn't make it _right_. You're giving up on yourself to save them, and they wouldn't want that. They wouldn't."

Tsukuyomi blinked a few times at them, before saying, "Perhaps you do understand. You also understand, then, that even if I know this... I can't stop. I _will _protect my family from anything that seeks to do them harm. That is all. And since my earlier statements do not seem to have forced that point home..." she tilted her head to one side. "... 104,573."

"What...?"

"That is how many human beings that Susanoo and I, combined, have personally killed over the course of our careers. It isn't exact, of course; war makes such records very unreliable. But it is a fairly accurate estimate," Tsukuyomi said matter-of-factly. "We didn't enjoy it. Took measures to restrict losses to only military personnel whenever possible, and to minimize losses when it was not. Had our fair share of regrets; admittedly Susa more than myself, but there have been many battles that left me feeling tainted indeed. But none of that changes the fact that we _did it_. If you seek to appeal to my conscience, then understand now, my conscience holds very little sway over my actual actions, and none at _all _when defending my family is concerned. I have nothing particular against you girls. I even find you pleasant, if somewhat... confusing. But I will kill you, if I have to."

"We don't want to harm your sister, though! We did find her after she fell to Earth, but we didn't _hurt _her! She's completely safe, and she wants to talk to you! All you have to do is come with us to see her again!" Nanoha said, an edge of desperation to her tone.

Tsukuyomi arched one eyebrow. "I will be the first to admit I am not good at human interaction. But you must think I am very stupid indeed if you believe I would agree to that."

"She's telling the truth, you know," Fate said. "Your sister was attacked and wounded by something on Al Sethis. She fled, and landed h-"

"That is not possible," Tsukuyomi said, her tone sharpening. "Amaterasu is the head of the royal guard. Nothing on Al Sethis could have presented her a real challenge save the two of us and Her Majesty, none of whom had any reason to attack her. This deception is over."

The blue-haired girl raised a hand, and twitched her right index finger very slightly. Arisa let out a soft squeak.

"What did you do t-" Nanoha began, her hand reaching for Raising Heart at her neck.

"Nothing. Yet. What she felt was the prick of the fangs touching her bare skin. One more command, and they will sink into the flesh," Tsukuyomi said very calmly. "This particular serpent's venom is lethal to the adult human at a minimum dose of 4 milliliters. The bite injects five times that amount. There is an anti-venom, of course, but it is really quite useless unless taken _before _the venom enters the bloodstream.

"You will tell me where my sister is, and you will tell me right now. Or I will kill this girl," Tsukuyomi said, her tone absolutely glacial.

"We're _telling you the truth!"_ Nanoha snapped, tears welling in her eyes.

"Extremely unlikely. You have ten seconds to comply."

"Please... just don't do this," Fate implored. "She's innocent. She's just a little girl..."

"I _do not care_. Six seconds remain. Five. Four. Three. Two..."

"A duel!" Nanoha shouted.

"... what?"

"If you want the information, fight us for it. Isn't that how a 'warrior' is supposed to handle things?" Nanoha said. "You and your brother versus Fate and me. Two on two. If you win, we'll tell you anything you want to know. If you we win... you believe us. You turn yourselves in."

Tsukuyomi blinked. "You... must know that I can't believe you would really offer such... it _must _be a trap. Nobody would..."

"Keep Arisa as a hostage until we've proven we'll keep our word. If it turns out to be us setting a trap, you'll still have your hostage to barter with," Fate offered.

"Gee, thanks Fate," Arisa muttered.

"... that... could work..." Tsukuyomi murmured. "I... admit to being intrigued. Well, it's not as though we could really lose, so..."

_No. What am I thinking? I have no reason to give them any leeway. I know they will not risk the life of the Bannings girl. All I need to do is continue to apply pressure on that front and they will eventually capitulate, so why am I even considering this? It offers me no advantage, and..._

_And..._

_And that is __**why **__I am considering it. Because despite the desperation inherent in the situation, I... I feel better giving them even the illusion of a fighting chance. _

"I... will have to consult Susanoo about this before I can make any final decisions..." Tsukuyomi said, somewhat more quietly than she usually did.

"So... yes, then," Fate said.

Tsukuyomi sniffed delicately and definitely did not blush even a little. "D-do not be so certain. Susanoo... can be quite serious if required. He is a deadly opponent who knows when to put aside the silliness in order to best achieve his goals."

_**A few hours later...**_

"Susanoo. Why do you persist in making me look foolish?" Tsukuyomi asked, stepping into the Bannings household with her hostage in tow and the two young magi following close behind her.

"Oh, um, hey, Tsuku! Hi girls!" Susanoo said. "You might all be wonderinge why we're carrying brooms,"

"And why we made crude armor from pots and pans," Suzuka said cheerfully.

"And why we're riding on top of these big dogs," Susanoo said from his perch on the back of a giant mastiff.

"Well, we certainly weren't going to joust. Not at all," Suzuka finished with an air of unimpeachable honesty about her.

Arisa turned to Nanoha, tremendous sadness in her eyes. "You know... the quality of your rivals just keeps right on dropping. It really does."


	36. Storm

**Chapter Thirty-six: Storm**

"I don't understand this," Nanoha said sadly, shaking her head in dismay as she and Fate followed the siblings in Arisa's dining room.

"Well, we had to stay here all day, so I cooked up a bit of lunch," Susanoo said cheerfully. "And then I had to keep Suzu-suzu entertained, so we played around a little, and..."

"No. I mean... your sister was at our school. Threatening to k- hurt innocent people. And you can just stay here acting like nothing is wrong?"

Susanoo shrugged, sitting down at the table across from Nanoha and Fate with his sister. "Two in the field, one at home."

"Eh?" Nanoha asked.

"We were royal guards. General protocol in standard times was to have two of us escorting royals in the field, one at home with those too young to be involved in diplomacy or military actions. Have you ever had to calm down a child whose mommy is off leading an invasion force? You have to be good at keeping things light," Susanoo said with a shrug. "Trust me, Nanako, I'm not actually in a good mood at _all_. And you are not making it better."

"My name isn't-"

"I don't care what your name is," Susanoo said very softly. "I'm on duty now, and we have business to discuss."

Fate's eyes widened. _Nanoha... something's very weird about him. Don't talk too much. _

_Eeeeeeeeh?! Fate, what do you mean? Why do I have to-_

_Because I've fought him at melee several times. You start to pick up a feeling for the other person's movements, their posture. And the way he's moving right now suggests he's about three seconds away from attacking you, _Fate thought grimly. _Let me try to talk him down. _

"Susa," Fate said softly. "She's just confused. Nobody here is trying to start a fight."

"Aren't we here because of exactly _that?_ You know where my sister is, but you won't tell us unless we beat you in some ridiculous little show duel?" Susanoo said softly. He raised his hand, and the scent of ozone filled the room as Raijin materialized in his palm. He let the massive weapon fall, and Arisa winced as the floor cracked under it. "So why not just get it over with? I'll face you both right now. If you live, Tsuku can tear the information from you. It will save us all time and effort."

"Susa..." Tsukuyomi said softly. "I gave them my word. A fair duel, at a neutral location, no innocents at risk. If we fight here, those girls..."

"You wanted to snap Arisa's neck and dump her in the woods, Tsukuyomi. Why are you worried about her now?" he asked flatly.

Tsukuyomi very carefully did not look at Nanoha. "I don't. But I gave my word. I should keep it, don't you think?"

Susanoo sighed. "Little sister, there is a time and place for honor..."

"If you don't want to waste time, then forget the duel. Forget fighting at all," Nanoha implored. "We don't have to do it. We'll take you to your sister right now! Amaterasu _wants _to talk to you. She has things she'll _only _tell to you, about what's really happening with your queen, and..."

"And I want to hear what Ammy has to say, don't mistake me," Susanoo said. "But I'm not walking into an ambush either."

Fate's face fell. "You think we're trying to trick you? After all this?"

Susanoo sighed. "Honestly? No. I think you girls really are as sweet and naïve as you act. Why wouldn't you be? You're like, five years old."

"... Ten."

"Whatever. My point is, girls, I do trust you. I think you're even telling the truth, as you perceive it," Susanoo said. "I just also think that you're not the ones in charge. You probably aren't planning to screw us over, girls, but can you promise that nobody in your organization is?"

Nanoha sighed. "Of course not. I know that all the people involved in this are trustworthy, though. Admiral Lindy and Chrono..."

"HA!' Susanoo laughed, though there wasn't much humor in the sound. _"He's _trustworthy? I went toe to toe with that one, kiddo, and trust me when I say that he has a mind like a foggy maze. From what I saw, his mother isn't too much different. If you want me to trust your organization, they were the wrong people to list."

Fate sighed. "Then there's no way you're going to listen, is there?"

"Sure. You go into wherever you're holding Ammy. You free her, and you let her loose to do as she pleases. We'll find her on our own," Susanoo said. "You do that, and I'm convinced you're trustworthy."

Nanoha sighed. "You know we can't do that. We are trying to help you, but we have to do our jobs too. Innocent people are in danger."

"Yeah. That's about what I expected," Susanoo said. "So... we have two options. We can either beat the information we need out of you now, or we can beat the information out of you in a pre-arranged duel at a later date. I personally see no reason to wait. So..."

"Susa, please," Tsukuyomi said very, very softly, even as both Nanoha and Fate went for their devices. "We... we should give them a chance."

"We can't give them a chance anymore, Tsuku," Susanoo said just as softly, though for some reason on him the tone didn't sound in any way vulnerable. "This is family. No games this time. If they want a fight, then..."

"Yes, but not here. Not now," Tsukuyomi said softly, but firmly, stepping between her brother and the girls. "I gave my word."

Susanoo looked down at his sister, his eyes hard. "When I complained about a similar situation, I recall you casting the vote to execute them all with an anti-ship energy cannon. I'm giving them a chance to fight back. I don't see why you're complaining."

Tsukuyomi's eyes shifted rapidly between Suzuka and Arisa, and the concerned look on Nanoha's face.

Susanoo sighed. _Little sister. I want to make sure I know what is going on here. You are willing to kill that girl if you have to in order to save our sister. But you're not willing to _disappoint _her,_ he said mentally.

_… Well, when you put it that way it sounds foolish... _Tsukuyomi admitted a bit meekly. _But regardless, I did give her my word. I... well, I admit that it may have some minor tactical deficiencies, but... it isn't like we'll be _defeated. _And... and it made her stop _looking _at me like I had done something wrong, and I know they will keep their word, and there are some risks but I'm sure that..._

Susanoo, without a word, set his ax down, reached out, and flicked his sister on the nose.

The silence that filled the room at this was almost tangible.

"... Ouch," Tsukuyomi said after a bit.

"I... feel like I missed something," Nanoha said.

"I know what you mean," Fate murmured.

Susanoo turned to them. "Okay. My sister is occasionally weird. I should be used to this by now from the other sister, but apparently I'm an idiot."

"I could have told you that," Arisa said.

"That was cold, Risa."

"You kidnapped me and moved into my house against my will!" Arisa protested.

"And I made breakfast for you. I think we're even," Susanoo said.

"I hate you."

"Yeah, we're friends," Susanoo declared. "Now. Girls. This is an idiotic waste of time, but if you are deadset on this duel, I guess we can manage it. We will choose the place and time. We will contact you when we're ready, via a method Tsuku chooses to make sure nobody unwanted is listening in. We will meet, you will lose, and everyone goes their separate ways if you live."

Fate and Nanoha stepped back, some of the tension leaking out of their postures. "You shouldn't be so sure," Nanoha said. "We aren't planning to lose this."

"Nobody plans to lose. It just tends to happen when I'm in a bad mood," Susanoo said mildly. "You girls have one hour to prepare, account for your absence, and hopefully come to your senses and just tell us what we want to _know_."

Nanoha stood and prepared to leave without another word; in her mind, if talking couldn't be managed for whatever reason, than the only way to move forward was for both sides to pit their full determination against each other. The duel had been her idea, and she'd gotten what she wanted. But Fate stopped, and her expression was a sad one.

"Susanoo... I thought you were a better person than this," she said gently.

Susanoo smiled slightly. "And I wish I was. I try to be. But there are times I just can't be, and this is one of them."

"You can't just trust me?" Fate asked. "You can't just..."

"Fate Testarossa, stop it. I didn't teach you to be a coward, or a weakling," Susanoo said. "This is going to be my final lesson to you, apprentice. I am going to teach you what war looks like."

Fate winced. "I am _not _your..."

"Do you believe in what you're doing? In the rightness of what you have to say? Your friend does. Say what you will about her, but she's ready to fight for what she thinks is right. That's how most wars start: two groups both have a good reason for doing something, and they're mutually exclusive," He paused. "Well, or a prominent public figure gets assassinated. That also sets people off. But we're not focusing on that right now."

Fate sighed. "Can't you be serious even when it's life and death?"

Susanoo smiled slightly. "Laugh so you don't cry, kid. We've all made our choices. Not one of us seems to have made a good one, but it's time for us to live with it... or not, as the case may be. You'll hear from us in one hour."

"Susa..."

"I gave you an hour to prepare. I didn't need to," Susanoo said, his tone one of absolute finality. "You can use it, or we can go to the battlefield right now. Your choice."

"Fate," Nanoha said gently, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Let's go. There's something I need to take care of."

"N-Nanoha, wh-"

"Arisa and Suzuka are not to be harmed," Nanoha said firmly, pulling Fate from the room. "If they are, we'll be back. With a warship."

"Didn't doubt it for a second, Nanatoka," Susanoo said with a shrug. "Just be ready. One hour. You'll hear from us."

_Nanoha, where are we going? I know you talked about this duel, but I thought it was... well, just a way to gain time. You saw what kind of power they have. Do you really think we can win? _Fate asked telepathically as they left the room and walked to the front door.

Nanoha turned to her, eyes wide in shock. _What do you mean, 'just a way to gain time?' I was completely serious, and of course I think we can win. I wouldn't have challenged them to a duel if I thought we couldn't **win**, Fate. It won't be easy, but I'm sure we can do it. We'll just need some help. Oh, of course, we can't tell the others about it, they would try to stop us from going, and we **did**_ _promise. This might be our last chance to reach those two! But don't worry, Fate, I have a few good ideas. I'm sure it will all work out. _

Fate screeched to a halt in the middle of Arisa's main hall, staring at Nanoha's departing form with something between astonishment and amusement. _Never change, Nanoha. We love you just the way you are. _

_Eh? Why? _

* * *

Amaterasu did a little spin in front of the mirror, enjoying the way her skirt flared up and showed off her legs.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmm," she said, admiring the new outfit; she understood it was something called a "kimono," but a kind of a specialized one that lady Hayate had said was for "servants." It wasn't anything an actual domestic servant would wear, unless said domestic servant was also a harem girl, but in Ammy's mind that was half the fun. In fact, she had actually shortened the skirt a little, cut the top down slightly, and was wearing a little less underwear than she understood was normal. In her mind, when it came to woman's clothing, less was more. Even if she was the woman wearing them.

She left the bathroom, ready to show off her new clothes and flirt with Signum until the other woman wanted to punch her (So cute!). She was, she had to admit, having a lot of fun here in the Yagami household. She deeply enjoyed the thrill of battle, definitely; the ebb and flow of life and death combat, the chaos, the fury. But she also enjoyed, almost as much, just... playing, like this. Flirting, dressing up, eating food that was too rich (she couldn't gain weight, which helped), hopefully ending the day with someone good-looking and athletic in your bed.

Just living your life as hard as you could had a passion just as alluring as a good old fashioned fight to the death. The key to happiness, Amaterasu had found, was to latch onto whichever of the two was more easily accessible. She had to admit, though, that she had missed the former. Probably a case of too much of the latter lately. Even the most delicious meal in the universe got bored if you never got to eat anything else, after all.

She skipped down the hall, humming cheerfully, back to where the others were taking a light meal and discussing boring old politics, only to find two little girls (cuuuuuuuuuuuuute!) waiting in her path.

Nanoha Takamachi pressed a single finger to her pursed lips, making the universal signal for "shhhhhh!".

Amaterasu blinked at her. "Um... is someone asleep, or is there some other reason to be quiet...?"

"We... technically weren't invited in," Fate said, blushing furiously. "We... we know the wards well, so we were able to sneak in, behind them and..."

"We need you to help us cheat at something," Nanoha said without the tiniest shred of shame.

"Nanoha!" Fate said.

"What?" Nanoha asked. "You said it yourself. Right now, they're much more powerful than us. So we need to outsmart them, and she knows their minds better than either of us."

Amaterasu's eyes widened. "Are... you talking about Susa and Tsuku?"

"Um... yes, we... kind of are supposed to meet them for a secret duel to determine if we give you back to them or not..." Fate said, her face only getting more red with each word.

Amaterasu just stood and stared at them for several long, painfully silent seconds, before saying, in a harsh whisper, "You _what?! _Hells, and they say _I'm _insane..."

"Ammy? Is something wrong?" Hayate's voice called up from the living room.

"Um... no, mistress, just having a little trouble getting the sash tied on this, no problems, I'll be down in a second!"

"Don't hurry!" Chrono called up.

"Please. Don't," Signum agreed.

"Spoilsports," she muttered, dragging Nanoha and Fate into a side room. "All right. Both of you. Tell me exactly what's going on, and don't leave out a single detail, because I am _so confused _and I don't really like that happening unless I just woke up in a stranger's bed."

"Wh-what...?" Fate asked.

"... Sorry, sorry, between Tsuku and Vita I just keep forgetting that some of the little girls I know are _actually _little girls," Amaterasu said.

"You don't sound sorry," Nanoha observed.

"I'm not very sorry, but it's more than usual," she admitted.

* * *

Enlil sat in her bedroom, in silence.

"**Your Majesty..." **Yggdrasil began.

"Don't. Say it. I refuse," she said, cutting the computer off. "I have done many things that were questionable. I understand that the history books will remember me as a monster for many of the actions I have undertaken in the last few months. But I have done it all, and would do more still, because I understand it to be necessary for the reestablishment of the Empire. But I will _not _consider this option. There is unconscionable, and then there is simply foolish_._"

"**Your Majesty, the incident you refer to was more about faulty programming than any other factor. The error has, by all calculations, been correct-"**

"Would you like me to blast another hole in the wall?" Enlil asked. "No? Then you will terminate this line of discussion immediately. If my only two options are praying that my guardians return home safely, and... and using _them_, I choose the prayer. It's far less likely to explode in my face."

Had Yggdrasil been capable of sighing in annoyance, it would have done so at this time. Of course, it had no emotions. It was merely an efficient and loyal computing device, nothing more or less, and so it merely fell silent.

And then, wordlessly, began preparations to deploy the measures it had outlined for Her Majesty.

It could not send them into offworld combat without Lady Enlil's approval, of course. It would never do so. But she _would _give this approval, in time.

Humans were pliable, prone to shifts in emotion. When the situation grew dire enough, and Yggdrasil was very certain it would, Lady Enlil would begin to see things logically.

* * *

Amaterasu rubbed her temples and sighed. "Wow. You girls are... wow. This is... the stupidest thing I've heard in such a long time. You really walked up to my angry, hyper-powered siblings and ignored their demands, then challenged them to a duel."

"They wanted us to tell them where you were so they could break in and drag you out," Nanoha said defensively.

"And rather than use this to plan some sort of trap, you walked up and rammed your face into the problem?" Amaterasu asked. "And they actually _accepted! _Gods, no wonder you got on so well with them. The four of you are the so stupidly honest and straightforward. I guess it's cute in a way, but it's also a bit sad. I expected at least Tsuku would know better than this..."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time?" Fate said doubtfully.

"It wasn't. But maybe we can work with this. We'll go down and tell your friends..." Amaterasu began.

"_No!_" Nanoha snapped. "We can't break our word! They'll never forgive us, and then we won't have any chance of really showing them that we want to help them!"

Amaterasu blinked a few times. "I'm their _sister_. They're pretty used to me deceiving them. I'm sure it's do-able."

"Miss Amaterasu," Fate said softly. "I expressed the same doubts if we could do this. It's going to be hard, and it's going to be dangerous. I don't know if we can win. But I want to try. We _want_ to do this, really."

"You... want to get your asses kicked?" Amaterasu asked doubtfully.

"Not what she means," Nanoha said dryly. "After all of this, it would feel wrong if we didn't solve this problem ourselves. If we didn't do everything in our power to bring it to a close with our own two hands."

Amaterasu raised an eyebrow. "Kid, you do realize that this won't solve a damn thing? Lady Enlil is still in control. She isn't going to care if you win or lose. You can talk all you want about needing to settle accounts with Susa and Tsuku, but in the end, the only thing that you're going to accomplish is to make yourselves feel better... or more likely, get your own idiot heads chopped off."

Nanoha smiled slightly. "You're probably right."

"Then why?! I don't get what y-"

"Because they're our friends," Nanoha said simply. "They're wrong. They've done some horrible things, we know, and they're trying to do worse. But despite everything, I can't think of them as 'evil.' Maybe that _is _just us being naïve, but it's true."

"They're good people who have lost their way, let their sadness and fear consume them," Fate agreed gently. "I've been there. I know how hard it is to escape. I could never forgive myself if I turned my back on anyone who was trapped like that. I know that it probably seems silly to you, but Nanoha and I are sure about this. We have to try everything we can, and we have to do it with our own hands, to show them for certain that we really do want to consider them our friends."

Amaterasu stared in silence for some time, her head hung in thought, before she looked up into the eyes of the two girls. The effect, the change in her expression, was striking. Her face hadn't gotten any less youthful, of course, but something in her eyes had shifted, and she suddenly looked both much older, and very, very tired. "This is crazy," she said softly. "You're crazy for trying it, and... gods, I'm crazy for going along with the silly little plucky heroine plan."

Nanoha smiled warmly, nodding her agreement. "When a friend has lost their way, you need to do something a little crazy to get through to them."

Amaterasu smiled slightly. "And I guess with family, it's not any different. All right girls, listen up and listen good. We have less than thirty minutes before you need to get this over with, and you have a hell of a thing to try pulling off here. You really haven't got much of a shot, but since we have all three of us elected to be _complete _idealistic morons about this, we might as well go all out and give it our very best wasted efforts.

"Sit down, and listen up. I'm going to teach you how to fight gods, and I haven't got a terribly long time to do it, so don't make me repeat myself."

* * *

Susanoo had not spoken to her since the girls had left.

He hadn't spoken to anyone at all, Tsuku knew, but he seemed to be not speaking to her especially hard. She knew that under any circumstance other than the ones they currently found themselves in, Susanoo would not only have approved of the actions she'd taken, but would have tried to talk her into them himself.

But... Susanoo was not in a good place, psychologically. He got _so _overprotective, and so many things were happening that confused him, and Tsukuyomi had seen so many signs that the carefully built walls of morality he constructed in his mind were starting to break down...

Susanoo was nice. Very nice. He supported his friends and family, and he was always willing to joke around, and just generally loved life, and so many people never picked up on the fact that he was this way _by choice _and it wasn't the sum total of his personality. People called him an idiot, but he wasn't, really, save in the sense that he _liked _being an irreverent, childish fool. It amused him to be that way, and weighed less on his conscience to be fun and silly and nice.

He had also been a soldier for 1,800 years.

You couldn't be both "nice" and survive on a battlefield for so very, very long unless you were _strong. _Not just physically, though Susa was, of course, very dangerous in that respect. But Susa's mind was like a steel wall, and he could compartmentalize it like nobody else. He was nice because he chose to be nice, made the conscious effort to be that way, and had the mental strength to endure in that personality despite the fact it made basically everything about his career harder. And when he chose to _not _be nice...

"It's been fifty minutes. They'll be back soon," Susa said, interrupting her reverie. "Is the battlefield chosen and prepared?"

"Of course, big brother. Warded and locked, with the teleport on a time-delay. I cannot guarantee perfection with the limited resources available, but I don't think that TSAB search magic will be able to find it for at least a day or two."

"We won't need that long. This isn't a fight that will last more than a few minutes, I think," Susanoo said flatly, his eyes locked on the door.

Tsuku winced. "Big brother, before they get here, I just want to apol-"

"I'm not angry at you, Tsuku," Susanoo said, his tone uncharacteristically flat and even. "I'm trying very hard not to be angry at anything, if we're being honest."

"I don't..."

"Because if I get angry, I'll kill them both," Susanoo said. "And we need at least one alive to extract Amaterasu's location. So this has to be done coldly, methodically. There's no room for my feelings on this battlefield."

Tsukuyomi shuddered. "Big brother, I don't like to hear you this way..."

"It's not much different from how you are, is it? I'm focused on the job at hand, that's all. Be happy for that much."

"That's the part I don't like. When you start being efficient, I know something is horribly wrong," Tsukuyomi said.

Susanoo shrugged. "Something _is _horribly wrong. I'm hoping to change that. On that note, though, it's time to can the conversation. Game time."

The doors opened with his words, and Nanoha Takamachi and Fate Testarossa entered. The two girls were fully armed and armored already, the air humming with extant defensive enchantments and their staves already prepared to load a cartridge when asked.

"Where are Arisa and Suzuka?" Nanoha asked immediately. "You promised..."

"They're one room over, watching television. You kept your word, and they've been good kids. They won't be harmed," Susanoo said immediately. "You can go check in on them if you want. We're in no hurry, and maybe they'll be able to convince you that this entire plan is idiocy..."

Nanoha smiled. "No need. We trust you to keep your word, the only problem is getting you to give it."

Susanoo sighed. "You can still back out. Just tell us where Amaterasu is, and stay out of the way while we reclaim her. It's better for everyone."

Nanoha shook her head sadly. "You know that we won't. We know that you won't back down either. We can go over this a thousand times, and it will never change that sometimes the only way to solve anything is for us to set our determination against each other in the best way we can."

"Tess? I take it you agree?"

"I would rather not fight, if we're being honest," Fate said softly. "But if it helps me get through to you, I will."

"All right. Last-second chances dispensed and refused," Susanoo said with a shrug. "That was the last you'll see of mercy. Tsukuyomi, let's go."

Tsukuyomi raised one glowing hand, and the Bannings house dissolved in silver sparkles, to be replaced after the brief falling sensation of a teleport by the scenery of a vast, bare canyon. A small river ran at the bottom, but plantlife was almost non-existent beyond the occasional scrub clinging to random rocks. A quick sniff confirmed quickly enough why that was.

"Ewwww. It smells like rotten eggs," Nanoha said, wrinkling her nose.

"Sulfur runoff from an abandoned mining operation nearby has seaped into local water supplies and largely destroyed this region's ecosystem," Tsukuyomi said helpfully. "The water is highly toxic, so please do not attempt to bathe in it."

"... Why would anyone try to bathe in it, Tsuku? We are here to fight each other," Susanoo asked. There are some things that even the most determined combative attitude cannot fully ignore.

"Well, I thought someone might enjoy a bath. I personally find bathing to be very pleasant."

"Tsukuyomi, you are ruining the _mood_," Susanoo said.

Nanoha and Fate just watched this in silence, before falling into helpless giggles.

Susanoo sighed. "Okay. We had a whole mood set up. And now it's dead. That's just great. We're about to start a fight, people might get killed, my family is at stake, and we're all laughing. That's... that's just great."

Nanoha wiped away a tear of mirth. "No... no, it is great. This was actually a good thing."

"Eh?"

"It reminds us why we wanted to understand you in the first place. You're some strange kids, but you really are good people deep down," she said warmly. "Tsuku, Susa... we're going to win. And once we do, believe me when I say that we're _going_ to save you. So do what you think you need to, okay? Just understand that this is going to hurt a bit, but it's for your own good."

She then held up her hand, which had a small ball of pink light hovering over the palm, and smashed her staff into it.

* * *

_"The first thing you need to understand," Amaterasu had said, "is that you cannot, under any circumstances, let the two of them fight together. Maybe you've gotten the impression that they wouldn't make a good team, and that's understandable because they're both kind of weird. They don't appear to have very similar trains of thought, disagree on a lot, split up at the drop of a hat. _

_"**Don't buy it**_**. **_If those two can actually bother to both get serious about the same encounter, they're just shy of the perfect team. Susa's high-tier offensive powers and Tsuku's illusions and support magic work together well enough that you _will _lose if they get a rhythm going. You absolutely have to get them apart, or no strategy can be successful." _

* * *

The ball of light over Nanoha's palm exploded on impact with the staff, creating a giant burst of light and sound that made the two blue-haired siblings reel back, covering eyes out of instinct.

It did not, however, do this to Fate, who had seen it coming and averted her eyes several seconds earlier while pretending to laugh.

**"Barrier Jacket, Sonic Form_," _**Bardiche said as Fate shifted into her fastest armor form, before bursting forward at the blinded Susanoo at slightly less than hypersonic speeds. He reacted on instinct, slashing his weapon up into a defensive position to intercept the attack he assumed was coming... only for Fate to step off the flat of the blade, hook her hand into the collar of his shirt, and fly off at Mach 2, dragging the highly confused Susanoo behind her.

"Susa...?" Tsukuyomi said, blinking the tears out of her eyes as she turned to open fire on the fleeing Fate, only to be interrupted by bolt of brilliant pink energy forcing her to turn her attention back to her own defense. The silver star barrier ignited, the pink energy washing off it like water off a rock. Tsukuyomi narrowed her eyes, and said, "That was foolish."

Nanoha shrugged, sparks of light still falling off Raising Heart. "Fate has to fight her own battles, and I need to fight mine. Tsukuyomi... I'm going to stop you, right here."

"You will try, I'm sure."

* * *

Susanoo blinked in confusion. There was a tunnel vision effect to moving this fast, and he thought he had heard a sonic boom; they were already so far from Tsukuyomi and Nanowhatshername that he couldn't even see the light of their blasts. He hadn't been aware Fate could _move _this fast, but then he'd only seen her Sonic Form twice, and in short bursts.

Rolling his eyes, he twisted in her grip and swung his blade at her waist, a move that would cut her in half with her armor thinned so. She responded in the logical way, letting go of him. He flipped in mid-air, righting himself, and prepared to-

"**Zanber Form, set-up." **

Fate was no longer in front of him when he turned to face the direction she had been flying when she let go. He smelled ozone, felt the charge in the sky of a lightning strike, and a golden blade bigger than himself swung in at the _back _of his head...

* * *

_"Okay, blonde girl who doesn't wear enough clothes," Amaterasu had said. "You have the harder part." _

_"My name is..." _

_"I don't care what your name is. I just know that you and Susa have your weird masochistic fighting crush thing going on, right? So you're going to be fighting him?" _

_"... What exactly do you think your brother and I **do**_ _when we meet on a battlefield?" Fate asked, her jaw openly dropping in shock. _

_"A lady never asks," Amaterasu said primly, adjusting her cosplay porn kimono so it wouldn't slip off her breast. She apparently was blind to the irony of this. "But I know what you're going to do this time, and that is keep him. On. The defensive. At all costs. I've seen you in action, and I will say this right now: your armor, even at its strongest, will not withstand a direct hit from Raijin. And Susa has been playing around a **lot **with you kids. He's a super-heavy combat model, and if he gets the time to prepare, he can reduce a whole battlefield to a charred ruin. You must therefore **not let him prepare**_**. **_Hammer him early, and keep the pressure on constantly. Never stop moving. Never let him land a counterattack or prepare a ritual spell. Can you handle this?" _

_Fate smile slightly. "I think so." _

* * *

Fate was lightning.

Each blow came in succession with two more, each aimed at a different point on Susanoo's body. One moment she was in front of him, then behind, then above, then to the side, her movements so fast that it was less like a series of blows, and more like Susanoo was trapped in a cage formed from the energy blade in the girl's hands.

"Dammit!" Susanoo snarled, striking aside a slash with his axe only to be forced to tank a second his barrier jacket in order to intercept the third.

_The strength of her slashes has definitely shot up considerably with the activation of this sword form, but it's nothing I can't repel. She can't match me in attack strength no matter how hard she tries, so that's nothing special. The problem is that speed! If I couldn't sense the ion trail of her sword moving, I would think she was teleporting! _He thought, letting another slash skitter off his blade, only for another to nick his shoulder at almost exactly the same millisecond. _She hasn't ever moved this fast before... I have to stay constantly on the defensive to keep her from getting enough of a swing to pierce my armor._

_Dammit, all. I'm not trying to play around, but when she gets all earnest like this it's hard to take her seriously, _he thought, smiling slightly in spite of himself. _Ah, well. They say that education is really a never-ending process. _

Ignoring Fate for the moment, he channeled power into his weapon, and flew straight downward. Fate kept up with him _more_ than perfectly; outpacing him effortlessly the entire way to the ground, continuing to harry him every millimeter. White coat shredded, black armor cracked, burns appeared on pale flesh, and he continued to fly, ignoring the wounds, until he slammed into the ground.

Hard.

The lightning gathered in Raijin exploded outward in a spherical blue wave, tearing into the soil and sending shockwaves through the air. Fate was not a moron, and she broke off before the blast detonated, escaping the attack radius in a fraction of a second...

But she had to break off her attack to do it.

Before the blast had even faded, Susanoo swung his weapon up and sent a wave of light tearing across the sky.

* * *

_"You have the harder job, punkin," Amaterasu had said next, turning her gaze to Nanoha. "Tsukuyomi is skilled at nearly any type of magic you can name. Offensive, defensive, summoning, illusion, divination... of the three of us, her tactical repertoire has the most width, she knows how to use each and every spell to their full effect. If you don't outmatch her in pure power, there really are not many tactics she doesn't have a counter for. And at the moment, you can't pull that off."_

_"It's okay," Nanoha said. _

_"You and I clearly have very different ideas of what 'okay' means, sweetie. Is that a problem with the translation software? I know that Susa had a few glitches in his program..." Amaterasu began. _

_"No, that's not it," Nanaoha said softly. "It's just that I already know what I'm going to do. I can't beat her one-on-one, it's as simple as that. Not with force, not with tactics, not with magical technique. If I had high rank help, I could manage it, but even then it's hard to be certain. Just me, in a straight fight? Not a chance." _

_"... Still not seeing how this is okay, I'm going to be very blunt," Amaterasu said. _

_"Actually, as much as I hate to agree with her..." Fate began. _

_Nanoha smiled. "Well, there is more to winning a fight than strength, or tactics, or..."_

_"... Fighting?" Amaterasu finished. "Because it really sounds like you're suggesting there is more to winning a fight than **fighting**_**, **_pipsqueak." _

_"Again, I hate to agree, Nanoha, because she is pretty horrible, but..." Fate said, her voice once again trailing off at the obvious statement. _

_"There is," Nanoha said softly. "Fate, do you remember when we fought, over the Jewel Seeds? I won our very last duel. Do you really think I'm a better combat mage than you?" _

_Fate blushed visibly. "Erm. Well. Not in the sense of... being better..." _

_Nanoha giggled. "Fate, we've sparred a hundred times, and I think you've won ninety of them. It's not that I'm bad, but you are definitely stronger than me. So how did I beat you when it mattered the most and you were fighting with everything you had? _

_"Because the most important thing in determining whether you win a battle, an **important **battle, is whether or not you really **want **to win," Nanoha said softly. "And I don't think she really does. I just need to make her see that." _

_There was silence for a few moments as Fate smiled warmly at her friend, and Amaterasu looked at Nanoha as though she had grown a new head. _

_"So basically," Ammy said finally. "Your big plan for defeating my sister when she is faster, stronger, smarter, and more skilled than you... is to talk at her really, really hard?" _

_Nanoha pouted. "When you put it like that, I just sound silly." _

_"If you already had a plan, then why did you make it sound like you desperately needed my help? I mean, I don't think I've given you any advice that you couldn't have gotten anywhere else. I'm pretty sure Fate could have figured out 'be very fast', and I didn't help you at **all.**_"

_Nanoha smiled. "There's a way you can help me, don't worry. I have some questions for you..." _

* * *

**"Divine Buster." **

**"Howling Moon." **

It was far from the first time their magics had clashed, but it was the first time that things had gone this way... Nanoha gritted her teeth as the pressure of Tsukuyomi's mana slammed into her own, the silver bolt striking the pink and holding it back, then pressing it back, and finally forcing her own attack spell to shatter into sparks of stray magic as the other girl's bolt roared toward her...

**"Flash Move,_" _**Raising Heart said, giving her wings. She blurred into motion, leaping to the left and letting the silver light tear through the air beside her, the shockwaves not sending her tumbling so much as giving her a little more thrust to her dodge than she'd planned. She hit the ground, rolled to her feet, and took off...

To find Tsukuyomi already above her, aiming down.

"**Lunar Teardrops." **

Nanoha raised her weapon, three cartridges loading. No point in being stingy with them, she had no other options, the other girl had at least a dozen pinpricks of silver light forming around her already, and if Nanoha couldn't match the number of bullets this was going to get her killed. "Axel Shooter! Shoot!"

The storm of magical bullets struck out, each one taking a twisted, winding path, and each intercepting another. One by one, pink bolts struck silver bullets, guided by Nanoha's mind into a perfect interception pattern, blocking all of Tsukuyomi's attacks... except one.

One single silver bolt pierced Nanoha's counterattack. And her barrier jacket. And her shoulder.

Nanoha fell, her right arm numb from the shoulder down, the impact of the magic deadening nerve endings and leaving the arm limp and useless. She impacted with the ground, unable to catch herself in time, and gasped in agony as the wind was knocked out of her.

Tsukuyomi looked down on the fallen mage, her expression unreadable as she pointed her weapon downward. "You had to know that you couldn't offer me a decent fight. You had to. This was just some silly ploy to manipulate me, and it failed. Surrender, and tell me where my sister is. Or die. These are your only options."

Painfully, Nanoha smiled. "You really aren't, are you?"

"... What?"

"She told me you weren't very good with children. Everyone in the court thought it was funny, because you looked so much like one, but she said the joke was that even though you were the baby of the family, you always acted like the most mature one..."

Tsukuyomi blinked a few times. "What are you talking about..?"

"She said that you always got them something odd for their birthday. Physics textbooks for toddlers. Dolls for adults. You never _quite _worked the connection between a present and whether or not the person actually _wanted _it," Nanoha continued, giggling slightly. "And she also said that all the members of the royal family treasured those bad gifts anyway, because Auntie Tsuku might not understand people very well, but she always tried her best."

"You... I don't understand, the only one who could tell you these things..."

"The one she remembered best was Princess Amnestra. She was... sixteen, I think it was? And her father had arranged her a marriage to a man she didn't love. And that would have been okay, but she had already fallen in love with someone. A guard, and commoner she could never have married," Nanoha said. "She was sitting alone in the in the royal gardens, unable to sleep, refusing to eat. Nobody could console her... until you came along, out of nowhere, and gave her, of all things, a little plastic model of a boat. Nobody ever did figure out _why _you thought that was appropriate, but the princess just started laughing so hard she cried, and she hugged you close for hours and hours until she finally fell asleep."

Tsukuyomi continued to stare down at the girl, wary of some trick. This story was... true, but the only way she could have learned it was from Amaterasu. And why would big sister tell her captors anything at all? And of all the things, why would the girl have interrogated big sister to learn something like _th-_

Tsukuyomi's vision blurred, and she wiped a hand across her eyes. Something warm and wet came off on her hands.

_Surely I am not crying, _she thought in a fair bit of self-disgust. _Such a silly memory, it was barely worth recalling, and besides, Lady Amnestra is long dead, so..._

And then a small pink bullet, one that Nanoha had conjured in their second exchange and sent past her, slammed into the center of her back.

Tsukuyomi cried out in pain, her defenses pierced as she was caught absolutely off-guard. She hissed in agony, twisting in midair as the energy tore into her back, trying to right herself for the inevitable follow-up attack...

There. The pink light was already so bright it was hard to look at, the attack nearly impacting already. The half-formed shield went up, just barely in time...

* * *

"Hmmmmmmmm..." Lindy said, checking her watch. It was an old fashioned one with real clockwork; she liked the weight on her wrist. Lindy was just a quirky, traditional girl with many wonderful habits. Also she was beautiful, intelligent, and charming. Also humble.

Mostly, though, she was getting worried.

"Miss Hayate... Fate's school would have ended nearly two hours ago, yes?" Lindy asked.

"Oh? Yes, I think so," Hayate said, taking a sip of her tea. "I stopped keeping track ever since I went on leave for the trial, I admit. And today I had even more problems to look after with Ammy dropping in..."

"Speaking of, where did _she _go?" Chrono asked.

"Not that we terribly miss her," Signum muttered.

"You know, I thought she was just having trouble with her new ensemble, but she has been upstairs for a long..."

"Here I am!" Amaterasu snapped, basically leaping into the room. "Um, sorry about that, got lost, couldn't find the... bathroom."

"There... are only three rooms upstairs," Shamal pointed out.

Signum's eyes narrowed. "Were you in my bedroom? You had _better not have been in my-" _

Amaterasu rolled her eyes. "Relax, kitten, I wasn't rifling through your underwear drawer. This time. Just... getting used to the whole thing..."

"What whole thing?" Shamal asked innocently.

"_Get out of my mind, you witch!_" Amaterasu shrieked.

There was painful silence for several long minutes.

The thing about Amaterasu (well, being honest, one of several things about her), was that she was not the best at keeping secrets. It wasn't that she was a bad liar, she _loved _telling lies. The problem was that as much as she enjoyed deception, she also derived great deal of joy from telling the truth when she wasn't supposed to. She was basically just kind of a contrary bitch.

The group gathered in the Yagami household turned as one, their gazes locked on Amaterasu.

"Ammy..." Hayate said. "What happened?"

"Nothing! Not a thing. Why would anything happen?" Amaterasu asked. "Stop looking at me."

"Something is going on here," Hayate muttered. "I don't know what, but if you wish to have any access to my collection in any way, you _will _talk."

"I... nothing... has. Happened. At all. In any way," Amaterasu said, digging her nails into her arm to let the pain help her focus.

"Fate was supposed to be here by now," Lindy said. "She is out of school, why isn't she here?"

"I'm sure she's fine. She's a... good. Good blonde. Girl," Amaterasu said.

"Oh, dear," Lindy said, her mind putting the stupid, stupid pieces together. "Fate is up to something stupid, and you know what it is, don't you, Miss Amaterasu?"

"... Nooooooooooooo..." Amaterasu said.

Chrono laid a hand on his mother's shoulder. "Mother, don't worry. Fate's a smart, prudent girl. She thinks before she acts and is wise beyond her years. She wouldn't do anything stupid, or associate with this horrible, horrible woman. Believe me."

The phone rang, then. Two rings later, it went silently. Vita walked in from the kitchen. "Hey, Hayate! Takamachi's parents just called. Apparently she isn't answering her cell phone, so they wanted us to let her know to grab some milk on her way home... oh, she not here yet."

Lindy and Chrono looked at each other.

"Nanoha and Fate go to the same school, Chrono."

"They're _together._"

"Fate might not do something stupid on her own, but Nanoha is _with her._"

"They're doing something _incredibly _stupid, right as we speak," Chrono said, finishing the line of thought. "And this... person... knows what it is."

"Um... hee hee hee..." Amaterasu giggled nervously. "Oh, I dunno what..."

"Tell me where my daughter is, or I will send you to a rusty, loathsome prison orbiting a dying neutron star and staffed exclusively by people who use prisoners for target practice," Lindy said flatly.

"Sheandthatcrazygirlinwhitewe nttofightSusaandTsukuandItol dthemitwasstupidbuttheydidn'tlisten!" Amaterasu squealed.

"Oh God, they're trying to have an climactic final friendship duel with the criminals," Chrono moaned. "_Again."_

"Yes, and... I know how horrible it sounds, but I really think it might work, so you should... please just let them solve things? They have an actually good plan, you know, and I think that Susa and Tsuku will be taking it easy since they like those girls so much, and..." Amaterasu began.

Lindy raised a hand, and chopped her off with a finality that froze the room. She then said, her tone one of long-term suffering, "Miss Hayate, if you could be a dear and set up a commlink to HQ? I need to talk to my daughter's familiar and hopefully keep same daughter from being beaten to death by a lightning robot."

"We are _not _robots," Amaterasu muttered. "We're sentient programs of solidified magical energy centered around a processor/power core..."

"_Not the time." _

* * *

"**Saber Form, set up," **Suijin said, reformatting into its close-range combat form. The blade gleamed with silver light as Tsukuyomi forced magical energy into it; not even a true enhancement spell, more like a magical battering ram forced over the edge of the blade.

She closed in a blur of motion and thrust, piercing through Nanoha's shield up to the hilt, the blade stopping an inch from the girl's face. To Tsukuyomi's tremendous annoyance, her expression did not change in the slightest.

"You're stronger than you used to be, that's true," Nanoha said softly, her hand shaking from the exertion of holding the other girl's sword back. "But you don't have the same sharpness to your movements. I think you're not trying very hard."

"Why. Do. You. Never. Stop. _Talking?_" Tsukuyomi growled, slashing her weapon across her body, making the barrier shatter like glass.

"I like to hope that it's because we're friends," Nanoha said, flying backward out of the range of the melee strike. "But realistically, I think it's because you know that your sister wouldn't have told me these things if she was being forced to. For instance, I never would have realized that you and Susanoo were actually twins if she hadn't told me... she said the first thing you ever saw in your entire life was him smiling at you and asking your name."

"Stop it!" Tsukuyomi snarled, her blade striking up sparks on Raising Heart's shaft, striking up cracks on the staff. "You can't... how do you know any of this..."

"She said... she's pretty sure that is why you two always loved each other more than you loved her. She never doubted for a second that you cared about her... but she also knows that you'll never be as close to her as you are to each other," Nanoha said, smiling sadly, as though a gleaming magical blade was not trying to rip through her at that moment. "Who'd have ever thought that your sister and I would have something in common...?"

"You... don't... know... _us!" _Tsukuyomi screamed. Her weapon flared with light in reaction to her shout, hurling Nanoha tumbling across the sky. "You... you never _stop! _Why?! No matter what I do, no matter how much I try, you just... _keep... talking!" _

"Because I have to reach you," Nanoha said simply, wiping a thin line of blood from her mouth, and still giving that damnably enigmatic smile. "I couldn't do it by being nice. So if I to be a little cruel, if I have to _force _into your head that _we should not be enemies_... well. You wouldn't be the first person to ever call me a devil."

Tsukuyomi's eyes were wilder than Nanoha had ever seen them; leaping at random between rage, hope, sadness, fear, and a dozen emotions she couldn't even recognize. "If you're a devil... then I'm a goddess. And it is past time we began the exorcism."

**"Moon God's Raiment, break limit." **

Nanoha narrowed her eyes, and fell back further as Tsukuyomi's armor exploded in light. Things were going to get worse before they got better...

* * *

The battle had gone back against her with disturbing speed.

The original plan had been sound, Fate knew. The combination of her Sonic form and Zanbar attack configuration had left her able to keep Susanoo stalemated, unable to focus his superior powers into any kind of coordinated offense. She couldn't hurt him deeply so long as he focused on his own defense, but he couldn't counterattack without leaving himself open to a strike to a vital spot.

Then he had gained distance, and the whole thing had fallen apart.

Her hair stood on end, and she winced, diverting her flight to one side before...

A bolt of lightning as wide around as she was tall slammed down out of the sky barely five feet to her side, heat and the smell of ozone washing over her so strongly she felt ill. She was moving faster than the human eye could follow, and she knew that he couldn't target her flawlessly, but...

"Do you know the flaw in your fighting style?" Susanoo asked mildly. "You don't properly utilize natural resources."

Fate landed, skidded on one heel, moving so quickly she dug a trench half a kilometer long from the skid, and burst off in a new direction just as a bolt of energy slammed into the space she'd vacated less than a second behind her.

"The ability to control the electrical charge in the atmosphere and call down lightning from the clouds is one of a lightning mage's most basic abilities, but it's also the strongest. You use electricity to increase the speed of your body and reflexes, and to sharpen your attacks, but that's the barest beginning of what you should be doing. For a mass destruction attack, the best option... will always be to bring the storm down," Susanoo said, his body glowing blue with the power he was channeling into the black clouds above him. The storm swirled more violently than a naturally formed storm could have, discharging enormous electrical bolts. "Even better, since you have to maintain an electrical charge to maintain your weaponry, you act as a perfect lightning rod."

Fate winced. _I had hoped he was serious when he said he would cut the lectures... _she thought glumly. The worst part, of course, was that he wasn't wrong. She'd seen spells like this before, from the upper tiers of Precia's repertoire. They were hard to counter and harder to dodge, turning the weather itself into a lethal weapon. But Fate herself had been trained as a covert attacker, with a focus on speed and single-target assault. The highest-tier, wide-area lightning magics were still beyond her. She could stil dodge, but...

"Well, I guess a spell like this doesn't fit your usual style. Mid-style magic seems to be rather poorly adaptable... and I guess using it more than one or two times like this takes more mana than you probably have at your stage in development," Susanoo said. "I guess realistically, both you and your entire style are basically too young to do much.

"So watch me closely. If I don't kill you in the first hit, maybe burning this lesson into your body will teach you something."

* * *

"So... why am I here?" Arf asked, as she sat in her medical bay cot, in the center of a circle composed of... well, everyone.

"Testarossa and Takamachi are morons," Vita said. She sounded angry, but then, Vita _always _sounded pretty angry, so that didn't tell Arf a whole lot.

"Miss Vita," Lindy said. "That is quite rude to my family. Arf, I'm afraid that Fate has gone off the grid while engaging in activities of a questionable nature. She is doing these with Miss Nanoha, who is being stupid."

"Yeah, that pretty much sounds like them," Arf admitted cheerfully. "But it's okay, they can take care of themselves."

"We are fairly sure they are fighting a two-on-two duel with Susanoo and Tsukuyomi."

"Oh, crap, those two just got stupidly huge powerups!" Arf said. "We need to find Fate before she gets herself killed!"

"And Nanoha?" Yuuno said.

"Oh, yeah, her too," Arf said, without quite the same level of concern. "So why are you all here? Shouldn't you be out looking for her?"

"There's the problem," Lindy said. "Miss Amaterasu doesn't know the site of the actual duel. And wherever it is, it has clearly been heavily warded. We can't _find _them, anywhere. But that's why we keep _you _around."

"I thought you kept me around because I was lovable," Arf pouted.

"Fate loves you, yes," Lindy said cheerfully. "But I'm a cat person."

"... Cold, mom," Chrono said.

"Thanks, Chrono," Arf said, wiping away a tear of joy. "I always knew you were the kindest, sweetest, nicest..."

"You still have to go to obedience school after this case," Chrono said.

"... I was hoping you all had forgotten about that."

"Shut up and let us use you as the focus for a tracking spell, pet. Your unique connection with Fate might be enough to pierce the wardings, and then we can get a combat team to the site," Chrono said.

"The whole Harlaown family is jerks," Arf muttered, as Yuuno, Chrono, Shamal, and Zafira took up position in a four-pointed star around her bed.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, Hayate wheeled her chair into the cells, where Amaterasu had been placed. The parole board (Which in this case was Lindy) looked very sternly on letting operatives go on unauthorized missions, particularly when one of them was the parole board's daugher. "I shouldn't have to mention that I'm disappointed you didn't come get me the _second _that Nanoha and Fate arrived at, what I shouldn't have to remind, is _my house_. I honestly thought we were starting to have something of a connection, really."

"We diiiid! I really liked your stash of pornogra-" Amaterasu began.

"_Ammy! _It was totally legal 'exotic materials' that were totally legal for a child of my age to own totally legally!" Hayate said, sharply gesturing for Amaterasu to shut up, as Admirals Mizetto and Lindy and Commodore Bentz stepped into the room behind her.

"I thought you were alone," Amaterasu pouted.

"I wish I was... I had a whole emotional speech to give," Hayate muttered. "But they insisted."

"It's like people think that their military timetables are more important than our personality conflicts," Amaterasu said.

"I am trying my hardest to not let you insane girls drive me off my rocker," Admiral Mizetto said, as gently as she could. "I want to be sane when I retire, as unlikely as this is currently looking. So I came down here to get any, _any _information you have not already shared with us regarding your co-conspirators. Not that I don't trust that you have been thorough, of course, just... well, that's actually exactly what it is."

"I've told you everything," Amaterasu said primly. "And I _firmly _maintain that you should not get involved at this point. The duel has already begun, and you really, really should not get involved at this point. Those girls may be crazy, but they're the best chace we have to settle things now. Please tell me you didn't get in the way?"

"Of course we did. This is a terrorist attack, in relation to an ongoing major crimes case. The outcome of it is too important to risk on a duel, no matter how much Agents Takamachi and Testarossa wish to be heroic about it," Admiral Mizetto said softly. "We have little choice but to intervene. I have authorized an attack force be sent to the site immediately."

Amaterasu sighed sadly. "Logical, and yet sadly idiotic. Those two girls were the only thing keeping this from turning into even more of a disaster."

"Once we locked onto the site and managed to examine the wards, we were able to acquire images of the event in progress. The battle was going in your siblings' favor, but not significantly so. We have sent additional resources into a combat situation that was only barely against us," Commodore Bentz said coldly. "Explain why you disapprove so harshly, and do so without calling one of the highest-ranked women in the TSAB an idiot,"

"Susa and Tsuku, on some level, do _not take those two girls seriously._ They treat them like... friends, or little cousins or something. As long as it was a duel with just those two, their guard was down. They probably didn't even notice, but they didn't put the effort in, didn't go for the throat they way they normally would when it came to a serious battle. They may have thought they were putting their best effort in, but I know those two. They were _not_ making it to the death," Amaterasu snapped. "That's going to change now, though. Ambushing them... they won't have any choice but to fight as brutally as possible.

"Things... are about to get violent."

* * *

Tsukuyomi's wards were very, very good. But they were not impervious, and the full resources of the TSAB's HQ command unit was being put to breaking them. Ten minutes after what the entire HQ was calling the 'Arf Salvation' (or at least, that's what Arf was insisting they were calling it), the Enforcer unit set down on Adminstrated World Nineteen, Lautrec.

Whether this was a good thing or not is largely up to posterity.

Glowing chains leapt from the magical circles that sprung up above and below Susanoo; one ice blue, one bright green. They snared him, dispelling the aura of electricity he had brought up around himself... for a few seconds. In a burst of azure lightning, the chains shattered. _Fate looks surprised too, and those weren't her magical colors. Interruptions, then. **Annoying. **_

His eyes narrowed, Susanoo lunged toward the source of the new attack fully intent on teaching it what he did to unwanted interruptions... and was interrupted by a flaming broadsword slamming into his weapon in an two-handed chop, the flame licking down the blade of Raijin and going so far as to singe his face.

Susanoo looked at the blade locked across his own, turning from Signum's determined expression to face Yuuno and Chrono. "Four at once then? The rules of the duel..."

* * *

"... Have been violated," Tsukuyomi muttered finishing her brother's sentence from a dozen miles away as she looked over the scene.

She had been pressing the girl, finally... the trick, she found was to just not let Nanoha talk. At all. Ever. Every time she spoke, all Tsukuyomi could feel was this sick, icy heaviness in her gut that made it impossible to focus, her thoughts running wild...

_... She's telling the truth, big sister had to have been the one who told her so much of this, and she always knows exactly what to say to throw my mind into confusion... _

... so she just stayed far away, and never, _never _stopped attacking, never let the girl stand still, never let her speak... and this worked very well.

Until the silver pillars had burst out the ground and surrounded her, at least.

_Area binding. My movements are being restricted... _she thought, jumping into evasive patterns. The obvious solution was to fly above the field, but...

Ah yes. The girl with the large hammer, coming straight down at her. Tsukuyomi wove a veil around herself, vanishing from sight for the brief seconds she would need to weave through the field of light and avoid the incoming attack. She could land, consider her options, enact a summoning...

The air around her began to shriek, a single discordant note in the harmony of magic.

_Dispel! _her thoughts had screamed, eyes widening with shock.

The area binding and her veil alike had vanished in a pulse of turquoise energy, leaving her an open target. She'd spun in midair, a barrier rising up and exploding in red sparks as Vita's hammer slammed into it with enough force to crack open a mountain.

And that was how she'd gotten to where she was now. Floating in the sky, with Vita facing her down, Zafira flanking her, and not far enough away, Shamal laying a glowing hand to Nanoha Takamachi's wounds.

Yes, the duel had been very, very violated.

The Iron Hammer knight's eyes were, in contrast to the unending sadness and kindness in Nanoha's, filled with nothing but fury. "The rules of the duel?" Vita growled. "You're here taking on a girl with less than half your power, and you have the gall to call that a duel of honor? You're no knight worth mentioning, you psychopath."

Ignoring her, Tsukuyomi sighed. Talking was a waste. It had been wasted before, and continuing now was compounding her own errors. "Unfortunate. There was some control to be had before, but you've left me with little choice. I'm afraid that it's time to end this by force."

* * *

Signum pushed back against the axe with all the power in her arms, sending Susanoo flying backwards. "I am loathe to interfere with any contest, no matter how uneven. But this duel was arranged by Testarossa without the approval of her superiors, and so I find myself with little choice but to disrupt it. More... I believe that you and I still had a battle of our own to finish."

Susanoo looked into her eyes, his gaze very, very cold. "Well. You can say that if you want, but... the fact is, when it was just Fate, I made some effort to keep her alive, to get the information I wanted. But with odds like these, I afraid things have to change..."

* * *

_On the battlefield, something shifted imperceptibly. _

_The sad fact was that friendships formed during conflict were unstable things. They could stand strong if peacetime gave them time to solidify, but so long as the battle continued, the chance remained for the tenuous connection to snap... _

_Particularly when those anchored to them stand on opposite sides of the battle lines. _

_One who has been to true war is forever changed. No matter how much stability they touch, something cold and hard will always remain, deep down. And if pressed... if there comes a moment when the situation is life or death..._

_It will always rise to the surface. _

**_Let the carnage begin. _**

* * *

**Author's Note: ... Good God, this is the longest chapter of anything that I have written in, I literally think, years. How did that happen?  
**

**As always, check my profile for additional works, both fanfiction and published. Hope you enjoy! **


	37. In the Pale Moonlight

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: In the Pale Moonlight**

_She was not born, in the strictest sense. _

_The entity that would one day be known as Tsukuyomi began its existence as a small, spherical piece of silver-blue crystal contained in a tank of clear liquid. In contrast to the larger, darker blue crystal in the tank next to it, which appeared to have taken its notes on how to glow from a fireworks display having a seizure, it pulsed in a slow, regular pattern as it absorbed ambient magic which was shaped and solidified by the master computer._

_The lead researcher looked in at the twin gems, and a pulse of magic filled the tanks, briefly creating the outline of a humanoid shape. No other details were available this early in the creation process; the gems seemed to have minds of their own, even before they _did _have minds of their own. The shape of the guardian created varied wildly between each of them, though the general ability level was always roughly the same. Honestly, in better circumstances, it would have been fun to see how they developed. Now, however, two things kept his nature as a scientist from coming out. _

_First, the simple and indisputable fact that these guardians had been created for war. The battles had been raging for longer than anyone in this room could remember, and would likely continue for long after each of them had died. This was the reason behind the guardians' creation: the enemy had far too many advantages, with vastly more powerful individual magi who the alliance could only compete with from positions of overwhelming numerical superiority. They had far more soldiers to lose, this was true, but even with this advantage, the loss of thirty magi to waylay a single enemy knight was unacceptable. The guardians had been created to counter this advantage. The only individual soldiers who could face the enemy down on their own terms and hold an advantage in raw power. _

_This was a divine duty, the creation of guardians for the protection of the alliance and her citizens. To treat it as anything less than the somber task it was would have been impossibly disrespectful. _

_However, it was also hard to be amused because of who was looking over the situation. _

"_I question the need for them," the blue-haired woman said. "I've served fine in the advance unit until now. I belong on the front lines, not back playing babysitter." _

"_Amaterasu," the golden-haired woman chided her, "you know that the protection of VIPs is just as important as front line combat. More so, in fact. Far too many encounters have been lost by shifting battle lines or attack squads decapitating our ground command." _

"_I know, I know. But I'm built for the front lines. For combat." _

"_And you'll get more than your share as the head of the new command defense squadron. Gods know our nerve centers are under attack often enough. The only safe zone is Al Sethis itself." _

_Amatearasu turned to face the blonde in the eyes for the first time, her gaze cold. "Then let them do it themselves. They're the new models, aren't they? Combining the advanced social programming of the advisory unit, combat programming of the advance unit..." _

_The blonde rolled her eyes. "You are, of course, ignoring that you are the prototype of that same model. Try to hide it behind that veneer of heartlessness all you like, little one, but if you were that cold, you would follow your orders without complaint instead of showing so much... well, pardon the term, but so much fire." _

_Amaterasu sighed, her eyes locked on the two glowing gems floating serenely in their tanks, and said, "Well... maybe I'm just not sure I want to be the 'big sister,' I guess. I've had a good run in my current position, and now they're asking me to train and command two entirely new units? I don't know. What if command doesn't suit me? What if they don't measure up to my standards? What if... well, what if I don't like them?"_

_The blonde woman smiled warmly and stood, readjusting her plain white robes. "Oh, I wouldn't worry. You're nothing if not adaptable, after all. Besides, they'll be blank slates when they emerge, won't they? It's not like they'll have any way to forge meaningful connections to anyone else before they meet you and start their acclimation and training." _

_And in the tanks, the tiny crystals glowed, just for one second, in perfect unison. And while they were not yet capable of anything like genuine thought, the impulse passed between them in some imperceptible way. _

_**This is something that's like me.**_

* * *

Tsukuyomi looked at the forces surrounding her, eyes narrowing.

"What are you _doing here_?!" Nanoha snapped. "I... this was supposed to be personal! I needed to do this on my own."

"Not what I want to hear from you," Vita said flatly, her gaze never leaving Tsukuyomi. "You walk out here to fight someone you can't win against. You think we're just gonna let you kill yourself? And her, to even think it was acceptable to _do _something like that..."

"Vita," Shamal said. "Isn't manipulating a weaker warrior into a duel something that you would have done not so long ago? You were always rather ruthless with lesser mages when it came to gathering linker co-"

"Do not help, Shamal, I can make my own points!" Vita snapped. She then turned to Nanoha and said, "Do as I say, not as I do, Takamachi! I'm allowed to be a hypocrite, I'm older than you."

"You... you... grrrrrrrrrrr!" Nanoha said eloquently. "Tsukuyomi, you have to believe I had nothing to do with any of this. It's just that all of my friends think they're _smarter than me_ and they run around making decisions on what to do without me!"

"It's okay. I'm not offended," Tsukuyomi said mildly. "This may be for the best."

Her body began to glow with silvery light, a star appearing in the air behind her. "You see, all I really need from this battle is the information we were dueling for. And there was always the possibility that I would accidentally kill you and not be able to learn what I need. Now... I have options."

"**Summoning: Kiyohime." **

"Where," the violet serpent-woman snarled immediately upon emerging from the star, "Is the little _brat _who keelhauled me?"

"Technically speaking, it is impossible to keelhaul someone without a ship," Tsukuyomi said mildly. "And I'm afraid you'll have to take it out on his friends, since he isn't here."

"Luckily," the creature smiled, a malicious smirk coming across her oddly pretty face, "I'm petty enough to take it out on them, so it works out just fine."

"Suppress the support network," Tsukuyomi said, inclining her head toward Shamal. "Don't let them heal. Don't let them be enhanced. Kill her if you can, cripple her if you can't."

"I only get one?" Kiyohime said with a pout.

"The other three are mine," Tsukuyomi said flatly. "It won't take long. Suijin, my blade."

"**Full Moon Dance,**" Suijin said, a ball of pure silver light appearing in Tsukuyomi's outstretched hand, stretching out and reforming in her grip...

And then she vanished.

"What the Hell was..." Vita began, her eyes wide. She wasn't that fast, she'd _never _been that fast. Even after her power-up, nothing that Vita had seen suggested she was any faster than Takamachi, but to move so quickly the human eye couldn't follow it? That was more than anyone she'd ever seen except Fate and very occasionally Signum when she was _really _booking i—

"_Vita! Behind you!_" Zafira roared, bursting into motion despite the fact he was already far too late to intervene.

Vita spun, Eisen swinging about. Behind her, she heard a rush of air, and saw something silver and shining out of the corner of her eye. She swung her hammer around to intercept what appeared to be a broadsword, the blade formed of solid light like Testarossa's Zanber, though not so absurdly large, and solid silver instead of the coruscating golden of the younger girl's. The energy blade struck up sparks against Graf Eisen's shaft, but the weapon held without issues... though the scratch being dug up on the metal told Vita her flesh might not have held up as well.

On the other end of the blade, Tsukuyomi inclined her head. "Good reflexes. I'd hoped to cut you in half at the waist and make the odds here a bit more even, but this will be complex after all."

"We can't always get what we want," Vita growled, loading a cartridge into her weapon.

"**Raketenform,**_" _Eisen said, taking on the spike and booster of her first advanced combat form, the rocket on the head igniting and pressing back against the other girl's sword with enough force to hurl her backwards despite her own enormous strength. With perfect timing, a bolt of pink light scythed in on her from behind as Takamachi took advantage of her disorientation...

… And missed, as she vanished from sight without a trace once again. The Divine Buster struck only empty air, and the girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Takamachi, you taking it easy on her again?" Vita snapped.

"No way! My shot on-target, no question!" Nanoha complained. "I didn't see her dodge at all, even! Did she teleport? But to cast a spell like that so quickly..."

"**Shining Howling Moon,**" the girl's device said from directly below them as she fired upwards, a multi-pronged blast that split to target both Nanoha and Vita simultaneously. Nanoha recognized the spell name and dodged aside in time, but Vita was not so lucky. She managed to avoid the full brunt, but the dodge was mistimed. The silver light clipped her shoulder and sent her tumbling, shreds of her armor spiraling around her as she fell.

_Okay, Vita... get your flight under control, now, please... _she thought groggily, before something that managed to be both hard and soft slammed into her, halting her fall.

"Go limp, Vita," Zafira rumbled. "I've got you."

"Ugh... thanks, Zaf. Head's a bit spinny, and I think my shoulder's dislocated," she muttered. "Hold onto it?"

Zafira nodded, placing a hand firmly onto Vita's right shoulder. Without a word, Vita twisted her arm sharply jamming it back into its socket with a loud crunching noise. "GAH! Oh, wow, that felt bad. Okay, ready to beat this chick's head in?"

Zafira did not quite smile. "Never change, Vita."

"Eh? What does _that _mean?"

* * *

_The creation process behind such an advanced AI was slow. Under nearly any other circumstance, it would have taken years, most likely. It was only through the influence of Yggdrasil that the calculations could be completed within the space of the six months needed to bring the guardians to combat readiness. _

_And during this six months, something unusual happened. _

_The two core materials had begun to synchronize more and more often, a phenomenon that had never occurred during prior development, even on the occasions two units had been activated in the same chamber. It was not certain if this was because the core samples had been taken from the same area, or because they had been put into production so close together, but it was clear some connection had formed. When one gem's glow waned, the other would grow brighter, as if trying to cheer it up. Occasionally they would flicker randomly, as if having a conversation. More and more, the ghostly image of a humanoid shape took form, and when they did, they were _always _staring directly at the other's tank. _

_The kicker had come when Unit Lightning, upon achieving sentience, had somehow hacked into the control code for the tank and changed Unit Ocean's informal designation from Tsukishiri, the old Zan-shi for "Moon Tide," to Tsukuyomi, "Moon Flower." When queried on why it had done this, all it said was, "I suggested that name awhile ago, and she liked it better. I just couldn't change it until now." _

_This meant that not only were the two development units able to somehow speak to each other before they were even technically sentient, but they actually seemed to somehow know what gender each other's final forms would be before these bodies even existed. Again, the development team cursed the urgent need for haste in bringing these units to the front as soon as possible; under ideal circumstances, slowing their development down to study it in detail could have advanced AI research by a decade. _

_Still, despite the seriousness of the situation, everyone involved in the process had given some allowance to the whimsicality of it all, and had fondly taken to calling them "the twins." They knew it was not proper, but they were still men and women of science, and this was a unique occasion. It merited a little joy. The only potential problem had been when Unit Flame and Unit Aura had overheard two researchers joking about it, and demanded an explanation. Well, Unit Aura was generally too polite to "demand" anything, but... _

_Still, it had turned out all right. Once Unit Flame had calmed down and been convinced to just leave in a huff, the only real "consequence" was that every few days, a petite blonde woman with a gentle smile would come down the lab and sit near the tanks, and read to them from a book for a few hours, just to say "hello" to what she'd already cheerfully adopted as her new siblings._

_It got in the way of the data observation, but the twins seemed to like it, so the research team let her do as she wished. _

* * *

The silver-lined fist struck from the left. The glowing red hammer, spewing flames, struck from the right. From below, a giant beam of pink energy flashed up.

All three hit empty air.

"How. Is. She. _Doing_. That?!" Vita shrieked.

"She wasn't this fast before," Nanoha muttered, her eyes darting back and forth, trying to find some sign of the girl. She got one, in the end, just not the one she was hoping for; the blade of silver light slammed home into Raising Heart, sparks shooting off it. "Maybe I was holding back. Maybe I'm not fast at all, and you're getting slower. Maybe it's all been in your imagination, and maybe it doesn't matter, because even if you understand you can't do a thing to stop me..."

Nanoha gritted her teeth, her arms aching from the impact, and feeling herself being pressed back, despite Tsukuyomi putting no visible pressure on the blade. "Tsuku, I..."

The blade flared with light, and the voice of Suijin said, "**Eclipse Dance.**" A core of darkness appeared in the center of the silver blade, and it shifted; the weapon lost its rigid form, curving around the shaft of Raising Heart and leaping towards Nanoha's throat. The girl in white leapt back, a quick application of mana letting her feet find purchase on thin air...

Just a little too slowly.

Searing pain filled one side of her face; not hot, but a cold so deep it burned. No blood flowed down her cheek from the cut, but a numbness spread from the point of impact and left the vision in her left eye blurred.

"No more words from you," Tsukyomi said, pulling her hand back, the energy-whip in her hand now jet black. Nanoha was still off-balance, the shocking cold and pain dulling her reflexes, and Tsukuyomi was primed for the killing blow.

Fortunately, some others had their own thoughts on the subject.

A spiked hammer trailing flames struck in at the side of Tsukuyomi's head. As before, the blue-haired girl vanished before the moment of impact without any sign of motion, but at the very least she was no longer preparing to cut Nanoha's head off. "You okay, Takamachi?"

Nanoha raised a gloved hand to her cheek, wincing at the touch. "I think so. My vision went blurry, but I think it was just tears. It _really _hurt."

"You have any idea how she's doing this? You're the one with the experience in her weird fighting style," Vita asked, her eyes scanning the skies. "Is she teleporting? Some kind of dimensional warp, or what? I've never seen a trick quite like it."

_I think it's an illusion_, Nanoha said, switching to a telepathic communication to make sure Zafira heard as well. _That's her specialty, and more than that, when we can actually _see _her moving, her speed isn't any higher than its ever been. It's not that she's moving fast, it's that when she wants to move unseen, our eyes just can't track her._

_You heard her, big guy. We can't trust our eyes, so that would be your run, _Vita thought, nodding at her fellow Wolkenritter. _Sniff her out, rig-_

She was cut off mid-thought by the energy blade, reformed into a sword, slicing halfway down her back.

Vita threw her head back, what was meant to be a scream of pain coming out as more of a hiss as her vocal cords choked with the agony and blood leaped from the wound in a scarlet arc. She heard both Takamachi and Zafira scream her name, but at the moment she was less concerned with their opinions on her status, and more interested in the fact that the girl with the silver sword was drawing her weapon back for another stroke.

She gritted her teeth and swung her hammer around, despite the numbness running up and down the side of her body. She could be in agony on her own time, there were problems going on right now.

* * *

The wall of turquoise light shattered under the hail of black arrows, and Shamal fell back.

"Such a pretty mouse," Kiyohime purred as the knight flew back, staying low to the ground and using the rock outcroppings as cover. "Don't worry, little one. My species might be constrictors by nature, but I'd never do anything that would ruin your good looks by crushing up that lovely body. You'll be alive when I eat you."

_Shockingly, not reassuring, _Shamal thought dryly. Honestly, how had this happened? She was supposed to be the rear support. She should have been waiting cheerfully at home with Hayate for everyone to come home so she could patch their wounds and cluck over them for not being cautious. Instead, she was out here alone in a toxic wilderness hiding under rocks so a creepy snake woman didn't cannibalize her.

_Well, technically, since I am not a creepy snake woman myself, it isn't cannibalism, _Shamal admitted in her thoughts. _Just because I'm under a lot of pressure is no excuse to not pay attention to my choice of words. _

Of course, her real problem, above and beyond her need to make sure her possible death was described in the right way, was that this was _really _not her specialty. Oh, it was not that she wasn't fully capable of being out there on the front lines with her fellow Wolkenritter. It was that she wasn't fully capable of being out there on the front lines with_out _them. While she did have spells for combat, she did not have terribly many that were purely offensive. Binds to trip up the enemy while others dealt with them, shields to repel attacks, jamming and barriers to corrupt enemy communications and prevent targets from escaping her more offensively minded comrades. The few damaging offensive techniques she _did _have tended to be slow to invoke and most often required the target be either distracted or unaware of her presence. Had Signum, Vita, or Zafira been by her side to hold Kiyohime back, their teamwork could likely have defeated the creature in a matter of minutes. Without them, however, things were getting a bit troublesome for her...

A violet-scaled face set in a mocking smirk poked around the edge of her hiding place. "Found yoooooooou."

Shamal took flight, but she was not the fastest of the Wolkenritter, nor the most agile. And when Kiyohime leveled her finger and incanted, "Vector Break!" things went... badly.

A solid bolt of black energy limned with violet struck out, scything across the ground and digging up a deep scar in the earth as it engulfed the fleeing Wolkenritter. A half-formed barrier took some of the bite out, but in most of the ways that mattered the hit was direct and devastating. Shamal was sent skipping across the rocky ground, her Knight Armor in tatters around her. Pain flooded her system; her entire body was burning, and in terms of specific damage, one leg tingled with a shocked numbness that told her something in it was most likely broken, and her right eye was already beginning to swell shut.

But she was still a Wolkenritter. She was not the warrior her companions were, but that in no way meant she was not used to pain just as much as they were. Where some would have used the damage as an excuse to stop and fail in their duty, Shamal instead used the dust of the explosion as a cover to readjust her flight and seek cover.

"Little mouse is running away agaaaaain?" Kiyohime's mocking tone rang through the rocky canyons. "You can only get away for so loooooooooooong..."

_By all means, keep talking_, Shamal thought, green light flaring in the palm of her left hand once she had settled behind one of the larger outcroppings. She touched the light to her numb leg, and felt the prickles be replaced first by searing pain, then with a soft "pop," cool relief. She pressed the leg down onto the ground experimentally, and found it able to take her weight with only minor discomfort. Smiling, she repeated the process with her eye.

She might not have been the best at inflicting damage, but she was not half-bad at absorbing it.

* * *

Vita fell back, wincing as the impact of the girl's blade pressed her through the sky. "You know, you are _really _getting on my nerves."

"I think that should be my line," Tsukuyomi said flatly. "You should know by now that you have no hope. Even all three of you together are barely managing to break even. Why do you never have the good graces to just surrender like a sensible person?"

"You wouldn't, would you?" Nanoha asked. "If you won't give in, then neither can I. It's as simple as that. No matter what, I _will _keep trying until I reach you. I knew when I started that it wouldn't be fast or easy. But I also know that you don't really _want _to do any of this, no matter how you act. So I am _going _to get through to you, somehow. And if the only way to do it is to just keep fighting until something clicks, so be it."

Vita rolled her eyes. "Takamachi, why is it you feel the need to drag me into your crazy garbage? Let's just beat her unconscious and worry about the friendship speeches later."

Tsukuyomi actually smiled slightly at that one. "I agree. By all means, let us go about ending this as soon as possible."

She lowered her hand, the blade of light vanishing from her hand. Vita did not, however, take much comfort from this, as the aura of soft light that her final drive created around her only intensified, streams of energy flowing off of her like cloth fluttering in the wind. "Targets acquired, commence program, prepare transmission. Dimensional creation confirmed..."

This sounded bad, to Vita's trained ears. Being herself, she chose not to wait for whatever it was. Two cartridges loaded into Graf Eisen, and the rocket on the head of the hammer burst into flame, sending the weapon and the girl attached to it spiraling toward the glowing girl.

This was unfortunate, because moving towards the girl was absolutely the worst thing she could have done.

"**Lunatique.**"

From Tsukuyomi's left hand, the streamer of energy snapped out like a serpent. Vita reversed her charge, but it was not the attack spell she'd been expecting. Rather than try to cut into her, the energy streamer stopped a few inches in front of her face and exploded, an eye-burning burst of white light that for some reason she couldn't close her eyes against...

The world spun, dizziness overwhelming her and stopping her hasty retreat cold. She raised a hand to clutch her forehead, trying to keep from throwing up. She heard the blast of Nanoha's counter attack going off, the familiar crack of one of her busters slamming into a shield overwhelming... and followed by the sharp snap and small scream of Nanoha being hit with the same disorienting attack Vita herself had taken.

_Okay. Okay. Focus. It's... it's a magic flashbang. You've kept fighting after having holes punched in you more than once, Vita. You will not let something like this break you_, Vita thought, her anger overpowering her nausea.

She opened her eyes... and saw Tsukuyomi twenty feet away, a glowing staff raised in her direction, the light of the full moon overhead illuminating the cold expression on her face as she held a bolt of energy ready to fire.

Vita eyes widened, a barrier springing to existence over her hands, the scarlet aura dispersing the silver beam around her. It wasn't much of an attack, as cannon blasts went; she had only spent a second charging it, and her staff form was weaker than the final drive she'd been in...

_So why did she go back to it... _

_Eh, well, I can figure it out after I beat her down. _

Ignoring the niggling feeling in her gut, she prepared; a red aura surrounding her to act as a buffer against the incoming attack. She knew it was too powerful for even her to tank it completely, but she also knew that a head-on strike was the last thing the other girl would expect. The strong ones always assumed you'd run.

The bolt of silver light flashed out, and rather than dodge it entirely, she charged at a barely noticeable angle. The bolt struck, but rather than hit her head on and most likely kill her, it hit her defenses at an odd angle and skipped off.

_Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. _Vita thought eloquently, as her left arm went numb from the shoulder down. But it was still attached, at the very least. She only needed one arm to cave that bitch's skull in, and she was already halfway there...

_The moonlight was shining down brilliantly, casting a pale, silvery glow across the battlefield. It seemed so natural, the perfect setting for a final battle._

Nanoha fell back with shock as Tsukuyomi slashed aside her buster, the pink light dissolving and the girl charging in past it. She didn't see where Vita had gone, but it wasn't the time to worry about that. She raised a palm, letting the silver saber slash in against the magic circle of her shield. It was a heavier blow than she had expected from such a light weapon, but then it wasn't _too _odd; Tsukuyomi was far stronger than a human... and besides, the weapon _did _stop.

"Reaction bind!" she snapped, a trick she'd picked up from Yuuno. Chains of light leapt off her barrier, wrapping around the other girl's arms. "Got you...!"

Tsukuyomi narrowed her eyes. "Underhanded. I suppose that's like you."

"I already said it once, didn't I?" Nanoha snapped. "I said I would save you. I promised to get you out of the darkness you've been caught in, even if I had to be a devil to do it!"

"And I said that if you were a devil... I would just have to exorcise you," Tsukuyomi muttered, drawing her weapon hand back. The blade flashed, severing the chains, and she lunged forward again, her sword leading the way...

_The full moon filled the starless sky, and even the blood seemed to shimmer where its glow fell. Beneath them, the ocean reflected the light, redoubling the glow and letting the illumination spread in shimmering waves through the utter blackness of the void. The world was divided between black and silver, a contained universe where everything was perfectly defined. There was light, and there was darkness. It was a world of flawless contrast, of absolute black and white where the enemy was clear and the path ahead starkly defined. _

_And it seemed so very natural that beneath that light, nobody could even begin to think that it had been the middle of the day above a stark, dead landscape only a few short minutes ago._

_The light of the moon reflected off the endless ocean, bringing only madness with it. _

* * *

Tsukuyomi did not smile. There was nothing to enjoy about this. She just watched as Vita swung her hammer in again, the weapon smashing into Nanoha's barrier with enough force that the circle of pink light cracked like glass.

She raised a hand, a pillar of silver light shattering against her gauntlet.

"_What did you do to them?!" _Zafira roared, his face set with more rage than Tsukuyomi could recall ever seeing in it. "Vita! Nanoha! Stop, before-!"

"They can't hear you," Tsukuyomi said softly. "The illusion is not in the light around them, this time. It was projected directly into the electrical impulses of their own brains, the most powerful spell of deception in my arsenal. Lunatique... every enemy could be an ally pleading for mercy on deaf ears. Every friendly face could be a serpent ready to strike. The only thing that is certain... is that in Lunatique's dream-world, you can never trust your eyes."

She tilted her head to one side, her expression blank and uncaring. "Be proud. It's not a spell that human power can cast. To push me so far, you are truly amazing young people."

Zafira's eyes narrowed, even as Nanoha swung her hand wide and sent a hail of bullets raining down on the frantically dodging Vita. "Then they..."

"Each one sees the other as me. Neither of them sees anything else, and what they hear is only what will drive them further and further into conflict," Tsukuyomi said simply. "Of course, the one with the hammer is wounded. She puts on a brave face, but I at least damaged the muscles in her back, and she can't attack with full force anymore. I suspect this handicap will allow Nanoha Takamachi to be the victor in the end. That should be an interesting moment... when the illusion ends, the first thing she sees will be the broken body of her friend, laying at her feet."

This time, Tsukuyomi did smile, just a little bit. "You see? She isn't the only one who can play mind games."

Zafira's eyes hardened. "If this spell is your doing, than I should think incapacitating you would undo it. I apologize in advance if I kill you, but supporting and protecting my teammates is the most basic trait of a guardian beast, and an angry wolf is not one that holds back..."

Tsukuyomi raised a hand, and a silver star appeared in her palm. "There's no need to be upset for them. What they are experiencing is far, far more merciful than what is about to happen to you."

* * *

_It was in the fifty-seventh year of the great war that Unit Lightning and Unit Ocean, Protector-class Guardian Models #02 and 03 came online. _

_While the team had delighted in calling them the twins, the final form of the two units had been very different. Unit Lightning had ended up taking on the form of a teenaged male, which in fairness did suit its odd personality; it had delighted in reprogramming its own computers any time it could make a data connection, and took an inordinate amount of joy in making the science team panic. _

_In contrast, Unit Ocean had surprised them all. Its personality had been stoic, calm, collected, almost emotionless in every way. They had all been expecting an cold, stern lord like Unit Conquest, or an elegant lady like Unit Aura. Instead, the final form of the guardian had been a child, the physically youngest of all the completed guardians._

_She had opened her eyes, looked at her 'twin', himself only active for a little under fifteen minutes, and said, "Good, you _are _older. I think the form I took would be too childish if you were the younger, but you were born first after all." _

_Brushing off the researcher attempting to take his initial readings, Susanoo smiled at his little sister, the first smile she would ever see with her own eyes. "I told you I would finish first. You were always so calm about everything, you really didn't approach your development with the kind of passion it demanded. But that's okay... it just means I'll be the older brother, and I'll take care of you in among everything else."_

_The door to the lap slid open, and Amaterasu strode in, her face set in a disappointed scowl. "So, they finally woke up, then? All right, get them off the tables, we don't have any time to waste on coddling babies. It's time to begin combat programming and physical training for..." _

_Her voice faltered, her eyes widening as she actually saw the two for the first time. "... for... for the... front..." _

"_Um, hi!" Susanoo said, smiling widely. "I think you're our unit commander, right? Um, I'm Lightning Unit, but you can call me Susanoo. This over here is our littlest sister, Ocean Unit, but her better name is Tsukuyomi... she's a bit quiet, so don't be too hard on her, okay? But for now, I'll just say it's nice to meet you, big sister! Please teach us well." _

"_... front... lines...?" Amaterasu murmured, a blush rapidly running up her face. _

_Behind her, the golden-haired lady who had accompanied her previous visits entered, smiling warmly. "Ah, Amaterasu. So you heard that the new units had reached comple-" _

"_Too cute!" Amaterasu screamed, grabbing the new arrival by her shoulders. "Big sister, who told them to make the new models this cute?! I don't think I'm able to mentally tolerate this, big sister! It would be like training with you, only twice as bad because there's two of them!" _

_The golden-haired woman sighed. "You... maybe you _should _have stayed on the front lines. Staying back and dealing with people up-close has made you so oddly... quirky. And in only a few months... I know you're supposed to be more human and your behavior adapts to new information, but is this really okay?" _

_Without another word, Amaterasu sprinted from the room. _

"_... Did I say something wrong?" Susanoo asked. _

"_That is our sister?" Tsukuyomi muttered. "I do not understand her at all."_

"_Well, we are young. Maybe she'll make more sense when we're older." _

_The woman with the golden hair sighed. "Oh, I wish that were true." _

* * *

Shamal was far too elegant to curse under her breath, but she sorely wanted to.

The fact of the matter was, she was just not built for this. The battle had fallen into an inescapable pattern of narrow escapes, distractions, and healing the injuries she had taken from the battles thus far. Her offensive powers were limited, and her defenses were not terribly outstanding either. The familiar, or summon, or whatever it was, had her outclassed in direct combat, particularly with her master's mana increased to such an oddly intense degree. She would need to be clever about this, but...

_But I'm not terribly _good _at being clever about such things, I'm afraid, _Shamal thought, a bit embarrassed by the admission. She was quite certain that Signum or Zafira would have found some clever solution by now. Vita... um... well, Vita would almost certainly have hit _something _hard enough with her hammer that _something _good would have happened as a result. She usually solved her problems in such a manner and it almost always worked well.

Shamal sighed, casting her gaze over the edge of an outcropping. _This is not going well at-_

Kiyohime smiled at her from less than five inches away, looking over the rocks from the opposite side. "Hello again, little mouse."

_Oh, you are absolutely just the worst_, Shamal thought, pushing off and throwing herself backwards as fast as she could. This was, unfortunately, not remotely fast enough. The long violet tail lashed out like a whip, slamming into her midsection and sending her sprawling.

As she fell, a trail of blue-green light flickered behind her fingers.

Kiyohime smiled, not even bothering to fly. She slithered toward the fallen knight, taking the time to delicately savor the little emotions as Shamal held onto her now-cracked ribs. "Silly little mouse. Trying so hard, when you don't have the fighting capacity to bring down a schoolhouse full of toddlers. Don't you think we would both be happier if you just stopped? Well, you wouldn't be happy, exactly, but you wouldn't be suffering anymore. Isn't that something?"

Shamal put on her sweetest, move lovable smile. "I... agree, actually."

Kiyohime stopped, blinking in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"I _do _think I should stop randomly running and succeeding in doing nothing but making myself suffer. I was thinking it might help if _you _suffered instead."

Shamal drew back her fingers, and snapped the binding she had created beneath the dust as she fell, cracking it like a whip. It struck the serpent from a dozen angles at once, tangling among her coils like a fishing net and, most importantly... lashing across her face. The creature fell back, thrashing wildly at the shock of her sudden inability to see and unable to even bring her hands up to clear the rope of light out of her face.

Shamal took flight, gathering up the spell in her mind and silently casting it, the anti-detection ward covering her entire body with soft, cool tingle. She figured she had a few moments of uninterrupted flight before the snake-woman broke free of the hastily constructed binding, and she did not wish to be seen when she landed.

_There._

A small cavern, set into the side of the valley. It was hard to see from above; she'd only found it by staying low to the ground, and even then nearly missed it. Kiyohime was far enough away that there would be no lucky spotting, and it would take her some time to find Shamal by magic, no matter how good her spells were. She had at least five or six minutes of uninterrupted time to work.

That was slightly more than she needed.

"Klarwind, scrying mode," she murmured. "Form the Mirror of Travels."

"**Pendelform." **her device said, the gems of the pendulum that emerged from her rings tracing a circle in the air. The thin line of green light filled itself with opaque energy, and from this, the image of Kiyohime slowly emerged.

This was a spell of limited utility, under most circumstances. Defensive spells, even low-key ones such as a basic barrier jacket, would repel it. It could only be used against foes who were off-balance, vulnerable, their defenses thinned to the point of almost non-existence.

Such as, say, a familiar with no active barrier jacket or knight armor, who had just been subjected to a binding that, among other things, had forcibly canceled her active defenses, even if only temporarily.

Shamal reached into the scrying field, and was reward with the sound of a scream on the edge of her hearing, and the warmth of a linker core filling her palm.

And then she _squeezed_.

* * *

Tsukuyomi swatted aside another of Zafira's attacks, her return fire shredding the Guardian Beast's barrier and sending him skidding across the ground, the difference in their powers making this even less of a contest than normal.

"I'm sorry it came to this," Tsukuyomi said. "I clearly cannot trust your word, but if you surrender, I will accept it. I will have to inflict a crippling injury to ensure you don't rejoin the battle, of course, but you will be alive. Do you accept?"

"A knight... does not... surrender..." Zafira growled.

Tsukuyomi tilted her head to one side. "A knight does not. But you're just a familiar. Shouldn't staying alive for your master be more important than a warrior's pride?"

Zafira's eyes went red, his already-sharp canines extending into the razor-edged fangs of a full wolf. The growl that filled the air was so low that Tsukuyomi felt her bones vibrate with the harmonics of it.

"I suppose not, then. What a shame..." she said as she looked over the massive blue-gray beast. "I never enjoy putting down animals."

Silver light began to gather in her palm, and...

She stopped, turning her head, her eyes widening in shock. "Kiyohime...?"

The wolf's fangs clamped down onto her shoulder, striking up sparks, and sending metal shards and blood flying as his fangs tore through the armor of her breastplate and digging into her shoulder.

_Damn, _she thought, hissing in pain as the giant beast bore her to the ground. She was physically strong, to be certain, but she was also off-balance and she had some very large spiky teeth buried in her body. The wolf shook its head back and forth worrying at her shoulder, sending shocks of agony down her entire body.

_Oh come now. You're not a human. Pain is not something that controls you. That blood is not your life, that flesh is not so soft and weak. Focus through it. Throw the thing off and kill it, or you're too weak to be called anything like a god. _

Tsukuyomi would have sighed, had she not had a wolf on her back chewing on her shoulder. Training _had_ been rather unforgiving, when she was younger. It had been awhile since the strident, sadistic voice of her trainer had...

Wait, hadn't Amaterasu trained her? Yes, that was how things had gone, and while her big sister could certainly be sadistic, that sadism generally did not take such a blunt form.

_This is perhaps not the time to ponder this, _she thought as a fresh shock of agony ran down her arm and forced her mind back to the present.

She was not at a good angle for attacking, sadly. She couldn't move one arm, and she couldn't find purchase in the ground beneath her with the remaining one. And of course, any kind of spell that she attempted that required any sort of concentration was doomed.

Of course, there were always certain techniques that didn't require anything more than a lot of mana. There were no other threats nearby, so she could probably afford the regeneration time...

"Suijin..." she muttered between gritted teeth. "_Detonate barrier jacket." _

"**Reactor Break."**

The silver breastplate shattering beneath Zafira's fangs took on a brilliant silver sheen, and he tried to withdraw, only for the girl's free hand to snap around and clamp onto his neck.

And then her barrier jacket exploded right into his mouth.

* * *

Nanoha fell back, the girl's sword once again skittering off her barrier, pink sparks dissolving into silver moonlight.

_I don't understand. This doesn't feel right. Nothing feels right. The pressure of her blows, the scent of the air, the taste of magic around me..._

But it was real. It had to be real. The pain of her wounds wasn't something that could be faked by any sort of illusion. There had been only glancing blows, but the cuts had opened, and... and...

_And what? _She thought. It seemed like there should be more to that thought, but the girl was attacking so fast and furious she had no time to consider it. It wasn't the same power she had come to expect, but Nanoha was alone, Vita had... Vita had...

Vita must have been defeated. Yes, that was logical. It would explain how Tsukuyomi had been so much weaker than normal, if she'd somehow managed to defeat Vita and taken wounds in return. It was the most sensible thing, wasn't it? It was... everything was...

Something was wrong.

Something had to be wrong. If only she could just remember _what_.

Tsukuyomi's blows were coming slower and slower. She hadn't lost power, but for some reason she was having trouble bringing the sword down as quickly as before, despite how light it was. Nanoha knew enough about this attack pattern to break it. All she had to do was shape a buster, and hold it at the ready until a properly timed barrier threw her just a _little _off-balance and...

_And would Tsukuyomi, even if she was wounded, fight with such a straightforward approach? _

It wasn't that she hadn't ever done so. But the time she had, she had been furious beyond all reason, unable to even think clearly. Now she was cool, collected, even mildly amused at the fight, her smile mocking Nanoha's efforts and words.

But if she was so confident, why was her fighting so simple...?

Nanoha closed her eyes, and the sound she heard was still Tsukuyomi's blade swinging down, cutting the moonlit air. The scent was still the salt of the ocean. Everything that her senses told her, told her that everything around her was exactly as it appeared.

But that couldn't be. And there was one way to test it. Probably not a good way, but... well. She could give it her best shot, at least.

She raised the barrier, and intentionally let just _enough_ power slip out of it. If she was wrong, then this was going to hurt. A _lot_.

The sword collided with her barrier and the pink shield cracked at the edges before shattering, it's job done. The weapon's downward descent had been cut, momentum lost, and it struck the top of her shoulder and _God _it hurt so _much_...

But it didn't _cut_.

The force on her shoulder hurt. It hurt impossibly so. But it was _blunt_. And unless the sword had totally lost its edge in the space of so short a battle...

_And why would she even be using her metal blade? _

Nanoha snapped a hand out, and grabbed the weapon around the blade, and felt not even a tiny bit of sharpness beneath her fingers. Just cold, smooth metal.

The moonlight flickered, and went out in her eyes, and she stared into the wide and very confused eyes of Vita.

"Hi," Nanoha said, exhaustion filling her voice. "I'm glad I'm not dead."

Vita blinked. "What the... that was... weren't you just someone else a second ago...?"

"Yeah. I think it was some kind of shared illusion. It fell apart when I spotted the thread and... tugged on it," Nanoha said.

"Good thing. I mighta killed you, jeez."

"I was actually winning. I let you land that last shot, I could have blocked it and blasted you out the sky."

"... … I am gonna hit you for that later, but for now, let's move on with our lives," Vita said primly.

"Never change, Vita. We love you just the way you are."

"Why do people keep sayin' that?!"

* * *

Tsukuyomi sighed, looking down on the unconscious wolf, still smoking from the close-range explosion.

_That was too close_. She thought, gingerly touching her fingers to the blood running down her arm. Still, she had brought the creature down. She focused her thoughts inward, gathering power, and the outer shell of her barrier jacket began to glow, magic flowing inward and taking solid form, reshaping itself into a metal shell.

Concentration should not have been a problem. But then, being caught off-guard seemed to happen to her so very often lately...

The bolt of pink light struck her full-on . Cracks ran through her armor's breastplate as the buster sent her tumbling, skipping along the rocky ground with enough force to leave the rocks crushed under her.

"Y-you..." Tsukuyomi muttered, coming painfully to her hands and knees. "H-how did you...? That illusion should have been inescapable..."

Nanoha smiled sadly. "I know my friends. And I know myself. It's the only advantage I have over you, and it came through again."

"Advantage..." Tsukuyomi growled, her eyes widening. "Over _me?" _

"Takamachi's got a point, kid. You coulda killed Zafira by now if you wanted to. You coulda killed her before we ever arrived. Only reason for that that I can see is that your heart just isn't in this, and that's the kiss of death for a knight," Vita said with a shrug. "Look, this isn't really my way of handling things, but maybe we should just do this her way? Just stop. Fighting us in that state isn't gonna get you anywhere."

Tsukuyomi wiped a thin trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth, silver light beginning to gather around her fingers. "Perhaps... you're right. I am not... at my best."

She raised her head, and Nanoha's blood went cold. Her eyes, normally the same deep blue as her hair, had gone entirely black, the pupils growing so wide they covered the entire orb. As they watched, a pinpoint of silver light appeared deep in the darkness.

"Which is why I am lucky," Tsukuyomi intoned. "That I don't really _need_ to be."

She raised a glowing palm, and slammed it back down onto the ground. In the air above her, a summoning circle appeared. A _big _one, at least 50 meters across, and shining so brightly Nanoha and Vita could barely look directly at it.

And then another appeared.

And another, and another, until eight of the gigantic silver stars filled the sky.

"**Summoning: Yamata-no-Orochi."**

Each of the stars went black, then, and from each one a serpent's head emerged. They were greenish-brown, and armored in thick scales; more in appearance like an adder or a desert viper, rather than the sleek water snakes Tsukuyomi usually summoned.

And Nanoha was not a great judge, but she suspected that each head was roughly the size of the main dining area in Midoriya.

The summoning circles slid backwards, revealing the long, thick bodies of each serpent, but then rather than disappearing, they just kept flowing backwards for what was probably only a few hundred meters, but to Nanoha felt kind of like a billion, trillion miles. Just more and more and _more _snake. Finally, the stars merged, bursting into brilliance, and leaving it revealed that all eight heads were, in fact, attached to a single giant central body.

And all eight of them were starting _directly _at her and Vita, the two girls reflected in sixteen eyes that were bigger than they themselves were. The creature opened its mouths and let out a low growl that made the earth shake. Thick, noxious smoke curled up from the corners of their mouths, and something foul-smelling that hissed when it hit the rocks dripped from their fangs.

"Poisonous. What the Hell does that thing need with _poison_, it has eight mouths and its teeth are bigger than my bed. It eat blue whales or something?" Vita muttered, apparently just to keep herself from freaking out.

"Eep," Nanoha said.

"My strongest summon. The pinnacle of my collection. This creature was the apex predator to end all apex predators, a beast so strong it devastated its entire planet's ecosystem whenever it awoke from its century-long cycles of hibernation. Devouring and destroying everything in its path without pause or remorse. My brother was the one who eventually defeated it, and knowing my... propensity for serpents, kept it alive for me to bind to a contract," Tsukuyomi said, smiling slightly. "It wasn't a water-dwelling breed, so it didn't quite fit the theme, but I could hardly say 'no.' By far the best birthday present I ever got.

"Now, my pet. Teach them a goddess is not to be crossed lightly."

* * *

Far away, Susanoo slammed his axe into Signum's guard, sending the Wolkenritter tumbling back. He was unable to take any advantage of this, however, as within milliseconds of the impact, a golden flash intercepted his follow-up strike, Fate intervening with her usual speed. Green and blue chains flashed into existence in the air around him, lashing out to ensnare his limbs, prevent him from launching his own counter-attack to stun or immobilize her, and by the time he'd broken free, she was gone and Signum's sword was at the ready.

Again.

He sighed in annoyance. "This is... the most aggravating fight I think I have ever been in."

Yuuno didn't smile, but he did at least nod in satisfaction. _All right, guys! I think we're pushing him! Just keep up the pressure and..._

_Nobody asked you to be a cheerleader, ferret-boy, _Chrono snapped mentally. _Fate, Signum. Keep him flanked. I don't like where this is going. _

_Eeeeeeeeeeh?! _Yuuno growled. _Cheerleader?! And how can you _not _like where this is going, we're winning! He hasn't managed to to much more than scratch Miss Signum, and she can shrug off more damage than the rest of us combined! We have his movements totally locked down! _

_No, we don't,_ Signum, Fate, _and _Chrono replied in unison.

… _I'm confused. _

_The fact he has barely moved is indicative of his lack of effort, not our skill in restricting him. _Signum thought. _Four against one, and he is repelling all our attacks through main strength, with barely any sort of maneuvering at all. He hasn't bothered to dodge or re-direct a single attack. He just crushes them. _

_Exactly, _Chrono agreed. _We might be restraining him for the moment, but we're not winning by any means. He's testing the waters, and when he's done..._

"Oh, wow," Susanoo said, turning his head from the battle to gaze at the pillar of light that pierced the sky all those miles away, at the site of his sister's battle. "Would you look at that? Tsukuyomi seems to have already called up something rather horrible. I confess, I didn't see that coming... she doesn't usually rely on that summon unless she's sorely pressed. Things must have gone rougher than she expected."

He brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes, and sighed in annoyance. "Well, I guess that means I spent too long on the warm-up, anyway. I am sorry for this, all of you. I really am. But it seems it's time to take things to the next level."

He held his weapon up to the skies, and immediately the storm he had created above them began to roil as wind stirred the clouds wildly. Lightning crackled back and forth between clouds and struck down to collide with the axe, each bolt more intense than that last, cloaking Susanoo in an aura of raw power so intense it seemed the planet trembled from the thunder. Like an executioner pronouncing final sentence, he intoned, "Go mad, Raijin."

"**Storm King's Halberd, break limit."**

_**Black clouds blot out the stars. **_

_**The storm begins...**_

* * *

_****_**Author's Note: I have... no idea how this chapter went. Trying to convey GODLIKE POWER without making a God-Mode Sue is harder than Hell. But I am _hoping _I didn't do a terribly bad job of it. **

**Now I just need to do it several more times. **

**Whoo-hoo. **

**As always, please check my profile for links to published works. And if you have the time and inclination, share the links around! Even if you don't buy anything, just sharing the link on Facebook or Twitter could be a huge help. **


	38. The King of the Clouds

**Author's Note: I **_**am **_**sorry about how long this has taken to get out. Unfortunately, my hours at work have gotten amped up again, and as a result my per-day output has dropped from 'five pages of new material every day' to 'maybe two, if I'm not too tired to write at all'. I've been in this state of energy before. It sucked then, it sucks now. **

**Still, I'm plodding along, and hey! At least I'm not totally unable to update! That's something, right? **

… **Right? **

**Ah, well. Either way, happy Independence Day to all my readers from the USA (And I suppose the ones from outside it... its not really a holiday to you, but you can still have a happy day, right?). Have some fireworks, on me.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Eight: The King of the Clouds**

_Susanoo went flying into the padded training center wall hard enough to dent the plaster beneath, the training device rolling from numb fingers. _

"_Pathetic," rumbled the trainer, his voice like an earthquake in progress. _

"_The routine..." Susanoo muttered, rising to his hands and knees. "The routine... was solid. Big sister said..." _

_A foot the size of a decently-sized dinner roast wrapped in a combat boot made of more leather than some chairs slammed onto his back, forcing him face-first into the mat. "The tactic was fine, but for a unit like you, tactics are often not the most effective means of first approach. Amaterasu has the speed and reflexes to use a ploy like this, you do not without the benefit of enhancement magic. In your case, a different approach is needed. _

"_Now stand up, and stop fighting like a child. I can spare only two weeks from the front to handle this absurd training, and I _will_ do it properly. Hold nothing back, and strike with all your power as if you intend to kill me." _

_Susanoo blinked. "This is supposed to be training!"_

"_Training or live fire, it doesn't matter. You are a heavy combat model, specialized for all-out mass destruction. Hold. Nothing. Back. For you, this is the ideal maneuver, always. Remember this, Susanoo, for it is the key to the Hazardi's individual superiority, and the key to your creation: there is a certain level of raw power against which no tactic can be successful. The Hazardi Thought Lords are this to our magi. Your duty is to be that to them._

"_Now stand up. And no mercy."_

* * *

It was early afternoon, and the sky was blacker than pitch. Barrier Jackets, by their nature, provided a great deal of support to the wearer, including very effective night vision; between this and light that magical battle tended to create, being able to see was not an issue.

Fate was not comforted by this, because what she saw was in no way comforting.

Susanoo was gleaming visibly, wreathed in black-tinged sparks of blue energy leaping between the plates of the black plate armor his final drive had transformed his Barrier Jacket into. The axe in his hands had gotten smaller, oddly: the shaft had retracted enough to allow him to hold it in one hand, and both blades had shifted around to become parallel to each other on the same side of the weapon. The rest of the team looked very, very wary, and they should have been, because Fate could feel the electricity. In the clouds, in the air, in Susa himself. Her entire body tingled in sympathy with the captured lightning all through the battlefield.

_Be cautious_, Signum sent telepathically. _I am familiar with the concept behind that weapon. The two blades so close together are intended to create wounds that are more difficult to seal. They... _

Susanoo raised his weapon, and a rapidly oscillating wave of blue light appeared in between the twin blades, leaving the axe glowing brilliantly and buzzing like a swarm of wasps.

_Or, _Chrono sent telepathically, his tone somewhat numb, _this form is to allow his device to more easily become a chainsaw made of lightning. _

_Or that, _Signum admitted.

"Are you ready, Raijin?" Susanoo asked, his tone incredibly mild. Fate had never heard him sound so bored, and it was honestly disturbing to her... almost as much as the device's reply. Raijin had always been... loud. Exuberant, childish. Far more so than even her owner, despite her gleeful sadism.

Now, the device said, in the voice of a cool, mature woman, her tone glacially calm and almost _sultry_, "**Yeah, let's go. No mercy, your highness." **

Susanoo nodded, his eyes empty of any emotion, and he charged.

Fate was the fastest person she knew, and had the reflexes to match. While in Sonic Form, she could see bullets in flight and, if needed, dodge or even swat them out of the air with trivial effort. And so it was that she was able to follow Susanoo's movements, when he went for her throat.

Judging by the wide eyes of her friends, though, she was the only one.

"I hate this form," he said conversationally as the energy blade on his device struck her own Zanber, and began to dig into it, the blue light slicing into the golden blade nearly an inch before stopping. Fate's eyes widened, both at the sheer force of the blow, and the sight of her most powerful weapon form dissolving like soft rubber under a knife. "It's not like my sisters. I don't get stronger or anything. It just becomes easier to control. My power is focused, refined, brought into my total command. Speed, attack power, spells of enhancement are as easy as breathing..."

He twisted his weapon, the shrieking of the energy blade growing almost unbearable as it ripped into the golden sword further, the lightning of Fate's blade sparking furiously as it tried to fight back and lost. "It makes things _so _boring."

Fate snapped her sword back, breaking out of the weapon lock before he cut completely through it. She had no idea what was up with that bizarre weapon, but the energy in it was clearly an order of magnitude above the that in her own. She dodged back, flying so quickly the world was a blur before her eyes, but he was _not _as much slower than her as she'd hoped, following right in her slipstream and using her own mass a shield against wind resistance to keep up with her. He swung as he lunged, bringing his weapon up in an arc aimed to cut her in half at the waist. Fate winced inwardly (she did not have the time to make the expression in real life) and thought, _He's trying to force me to block so he can destroy my sword, or..._

He wouldn't try to kill her. She had to believe that he wouldn't go that far, or she'd have to make the unfortunate connection that he simply _was_ beyond saving, whatever Nanoha said. Or worse, didn't think he _needed _to be saved from anything at all...

The glowing axe slammed into her sword, and once again began to slice into it, before being forcibly stopped by a metal blade joining her own in resisting. "Back, Testarossa! You can't be crossing swords when a single blow could kill you!" Signum snapped, flame running down the length of Laevateinn and flickering madly where the electric energy touched it.

"I did it with you!" Fate shouted back, forcing mana into the blade, another cartridge loading and making her blade grow in brightness, the chunks cut out of it beginning to regenerate.

Susanoo smiled slightly, an expression with no humor in it. "Such a poor apprentice. If you don't listen to your elders...

"You won't grow up to be one."

"**Fang of the Storm Dragon.**" Raijin said, the buzzsaw of energy along her blade turning jet black, and _growing, _before...

Something hard and warm slammed around Fate's stomach, and her vision was obstructed just before a thick wave of superheated air slammed into her, the scent of ozone thick on it, followed by a thunderclap so loud it made her ears numb. She couldn't hear, couldn't see clearly, but she caught the wave of coruscating, electric energy out of the corner of her eye even as she was tumbled helplessly...

After what seemed like forever, but was likely only a few nauseating seconds, Fate found herself right-side-up, and clutched to Signum's chest by the Wolkenritter's free hand. _Are you all right, Testarossa?_ she asked, her mental voice steady, but thick with pain.

Fate began to reply out loud, realizing belatedly that she could not hear her own voice over the ringing in her ears. _Yes, I didn't take the hit, but you...! _she replied telepathically, stepping out of Signum's grasp to take her first look at the older woman.

Signum's knight armor was seared and blackened in an arc going across her back from her right shoulder all the way down to her waist. The metal bracer on her right arm was gone, and the tie holding her hair in its ponytail had been cut loose, leaving the magenta mane falling across her back and face. _It's fine. Better than it looks. I think he was aiming at you, so the blow was only glancing to me, _Signum thought, before wincing slightly as the muscles in her back shifted.

_That said, it does not feel _good_, _she admitted, chagrin in her tone. _My Knight Armor was penetrated, with a single blow... I should have invoked a defensive magic, but there was just no time. _

Fate winced. There wasn't much doubt this one was her fault, Signum had pulled her out of an attack she would probably have died to, and taken the hit doing it.

But then, the blade that was diving in at the older woman's back told her that now was not the time to think about that.

Fate spun past Signum, her own weapon slicing a path through the air as it snapped up to meet the descending Raijin. For the third time, the energy blades met and clashed, and again the blade of the Zanber began to dissolve as the axe ate into it.

"I _told _you to keep your guard up..." Susanoo chided her.

* * *

_Susanoo and Tsukuyomi followed Amaterasu through central command. Only one of them was skipping. Who this was... shall be left to the imagination._

"_I know it doesn't seem like much, dears, but I'm afraid a month is all we have to spare for your training. We need you field-ready now, and as cute as you are, war waits for no man," Amaterasu said. Susa and Tsuku did not reply. Even one month had been enough to get them used to the fact that Ammy was a bit too interested in biological functions that she did not have any practical need for. "So today, you get your combat devices and your first orders. I'm so proud of you! My little caska-pups are all grown up and baring their fangs! We'll have to meet up and celebrate later, just the three of us. Somewhere private." _

"_No, thank you." Tsukuyomi said. _

"_You're still creepy, sis!" Susanoo said cheerfully._

_Amaterasu sighed. "When I meet the dolt who decided to program in a sibling relationship... did they not see what a waste that was? Ah, well, I'm sure we'll be able to work around that programming in time. For now, though..." she keyed in her access code to the armory door, "... Big Sis has a present for you."_

_Two sealed devices stood ready; one a small, piece of jagged metal, like someone had sharpened a piece of shrapnel. The other a small, smooth turquoise gemstone that gently glowed with a soft silver aura._

"_Well?" Amaterasu said. "They're yours. Talk to them." _

_Tsukuyomi picked up the gem, and said, "Hullo. How are you?" _

"_**Suijin, systems online. Stand by, ready." **_

_Susanoo, following her example, picked up his own device with a big grin and said, "Hey there! I guess we're partners." _

"_**No way!**__" The small razor said in a petulant, childish whine. _

_The silence was deafening. _

"_**No way I'm working with someone like you! That stupid kiddie friendliness? That big idiotic smile? You'll get me killed! I'm staying here." **__The device said. _

_Susanoo blinked. "I think mine's broken." _

"_That's absurd. I tested it myself, and it was perfectly functional," Amaterasu said. Sure, intelligent devices sometimes had minor personality conflicts with their programmed owners, but nothing like _this.

"_**I am functional!" **__the device said. "__**I just don't trust this guy!" **_

"... Well. _Leave it here for now, Susa. We'll wipe it's memory, and get it back to you in a few hours," Amaterasu said, deciding that falling back on threats was probably safest at this point. She didn't like the device's tone._

_Susa chuckled. "Wait, wait. I kinda like it. It has personality. What's your name, little mouthy thing?" _

"_**Designation: Raijin... you giant doofus." **_

"_Okay, okay. Raijin, if you don't come with me and help out, they're just gonna scrap you, and I don't think you want that. So how about we do it this way?" Susanoo asked. "You work with me, but you can question me as much as you want and even insult me the whole time. You have to help, not be my friend. We're just like... business partners."_

"_... __**Acceptable. Catch?" **_

_Susa smiled. "The catch is that when I do earn your respect... _and I will_, you cheap piece of tin... you have to call me 'your highness' from then on! Because we still won't be friends, I'll be your _king _and you have to do what I say forever!"_

"_**Pfffffffft.**__" the device said, probably the first time any such device had made that sound in recent memory. Or any memory. "__**Such an outcome is impossible."**_

_Susanoo smirked. "We'll see about that... partner."_

* * *

Chrono sighed in annoyance as he and Yuuno flew.

This was the problem with being the 'skilled but not strong one.' He would bet his ability in single combat against any particular person he cared to name, and he would win that bet more often than not. But sometimes the problem wasn't a fight. Sometimes the problem was that the fight had moved _away _from him just... way too fast for him.

"Can't you do something about this?!" Chrono snarled at his flight partner. "You're the support network!"

"I'm a defensive specialist and a medic!" Yuuno snapped back. "I don't _know _any speed enhancements, Chrono!"

"Then what do we keep you around for?!"

"I _thought _it was to be a librarian, but lately I'm starting to wonder if I'm the group's whipping boy," Yuuno sighed.

"You volunteered, as I recall!"

"For the field work, not the abuse!"

"It's not _that _much abuse, wimp," Chrono said. "Okay, I have something. Struggle bind on my mark, 0.7 kilometers ahead on our right."

Yuuno blinked. "They're still moving around too fast, Chrono. I can't aim a binding that specifically from this distance..."

"Durandal can, so tie your spell to mine and cast where I do. Lightning leaves a streamer of electrons. I have a computer lock on the stronger of the two electric trails. Fate can catch him, Signum can at least keep up, but the two of us need to slow him down. Let's do that. Target lock, and binding in five... four... three... _two... mark!" _

"**Freezing Chain,**" Durandal said, its soothing artificial tone seemingly unaware it was in a high-speed chase under a giant artificial lightning storm.

"Struggle Bind!" Yuuno shouted, extending one glowing hand.

As one, azure and emerald chains burst into being around the streaks of light in the distance. Even as Susanoo drew back his blade to slam against Signum's guard, the binds of light snapped around his weapon hand, holding it back.

Susanoo sighed, raising one armored hand to intercept the woman's sword, the burning blade striking up sparks as it tore into the metal. "Oh, look. The kids are here."

He swung his weapon back, the chains shattering as he clamped his hand onto Laevateinn, the shriek of metal on metal deafening, and flung Signum over his shoulder before bringing the blade swinging down in an overhand chop in Yuuno and Chrono's general direction...

"_Break!_" Chrono shouted, turning a hard right and praying Yuuno had the sense to turn left before they were both-

"**Claw of the Storm Dragon.**"

A pillar of lightning tore down from the skies and struck the axe, becoming a scythelike beam of descending energy, so bright that Chrono was blinded even though he was not looking at it...

* * *

Signum had to blink a few times to clear her eyes after _that_ one, and did it just in time to catch the incoming blade before it took her head off.

"Sorry," Susanoo said flatly as his weapon shrieked against Laevateinn, trying to tear into the metal of the sword just from being pressed against it. "In general, the ideal tactic when facing a group in combat is to take out the weakest opponent first, but I've never been much for that. If you break the most dangerous one, the others just fall apart..."

Signum gave a small, tight smile without any humor to it. "I am fortunate, then, that Wolkenritter do not break."

Stepping back and sliding her sword out of the locked weapons, she let Susanoo's force carry him forward and off balance. Slipping a hand to her hip, she grasped the sword's sheathe and whipped it forward like a club, firmly intending to bash his skull in with it if she could. He brought his own hand up, the sheathe slamming into his armor with a hollow clang, but it was good enough. He had only one hand on his weapon, and Raijin was much heavier than Laevateinn even in this new, smaller form. It couldn't maneuver as well at short ranges. Slipping her sword up one-handed through the newly made hole in his guard, she went for the throat.

Hayate would perhaps not approve, but this was not a fight for mercy. Susanoo's last attack had left the battlefield a chaotic mess of ash and smoke, and she couldn't even be sure that Chrono and Yuuno were alive since there was no way to tell if it had been a direct hit or not. Someone needed to take him down, _now_, and as the warrior on the battlefield with the highest direct attack power, she was the obvious choice.

Susanoo did not agree.

Snapping his head to one side, the sword struck lower than expected, striking the armor of his right shoulder instead of the vulnerable flesh of his jugular. It skittered along the black plate before finally finding a seam and diving in, blood spurting bright red from beneath the armor.

And then she tried to pull it out, and found it stuck.

"Excellent swordsmanship," Susanoo said, as though a blade were not buried three inches into his shoulder. His muscles were tensed, the combination of this and the plates of his armor contracting holding the sword fast in his body. "I see why even Amaterasu had trouble with you. You really are something of a monster. And unlike the others, you tried to kill me without hesitation. I can respect that."

"It's not something to respect," Signum growled. "The Mistress of the Night Sky would be looking on me with shame right now, if she could see the depths I sink to. But I am a Knight of Belka, a Wolkenritter. I _will _defend my comrades, even if I must do so with disgust in my heart."

Susanoo blinked, his expression shifting almost imperceptibly. "Such an ignorant title."

"Wh-?"

He snapped his weapon up, holding the axe to the heavens. With his free hand, he grabbed onto her sword by the blade, blood flowing from beneath his gauntlet, and ripped it out of his shoulder to throw her back across the skies. "You talk about the Mistress of the Night Sky like such a thing could exist. Pay _attention_, you little speck. I am the god of thunder, Susanoo the Storm Emperor.

"Day or night, the lord of the sky is _always _me."

"**Crying Heavens: Izanagi." **

The skies opened, pillars of blinding azure force striking down from the clouds...

But not at Signum.

The Wolkenritter watched in horror as the bolts of energy slammed home amid the cloud of dust, once more sending the maelstrom whirling. As if on cue, Fate and Chrono exploded out of the cloud, each dodging in their own way to avoid being roasted alive.

Signum's eyes widened as Susanoo's smile grew. "Like I said: target the most dangerous first."

"**Wings of the Storm Dragon." **Raijin said. Susanoo's black armor took on a brilliant azure aura, a crackling tingle of electricity that surrounded him and made him gleam like the heart of a thunderstorm. Stunning light, illuminating pitch black...

And then he was gone, leaving only the blood on her blade and a streamer of electricity in the air as he took off at speed she could barely perceive.

Signum cursed under her breath, working out what he meant in the space of half a second and wondering if that was already far too long to stop him. After all, of the two of them here, Signum _had _overmatched him... but she had never managed a decisive victory.

Only one of them had pulled _that _off.

In her mind, she screamed on a wide-band telepathic broadcast, unconcerned if the enemy could pick it up, _He's targeting Chrono!_

* * *

Chrono wished he could have been shocked by that, but honestly? It was about how his life went these days. Of course he was the target, he was simultaneously the greatest threat and the weakest; lacking the durability of Yuuno or Signum, or the speed and agility of Fate, but possessing at least one high-tier spell that could have ended the fight in a second if it hit.

_Never should have used Eternal Coffin on him. It's too memorable. Everyone remembers it and then _boom_, right for me with the axe they come. _Chrono thought in irritation, trying his best to adjust his vision. He still had spots in his vision from all of the ridiculously bright flashes going around the field today, and most of what he could see was dust, so he extended his senses, searching for...

_CRAP! _He thought, snapping up his staff and projecting a shield roughly half a nanosecond before the big damn axe took his face off.

He was then left equal parts humiliated and horrified when the blade in question smashed his shield like it was made of glass, slammed home into Durandal's primary shaft...

Durandal was a piece of precision engineering, and indeed a lethally effective weapon in the hands of a skilled mage, allowing manipulation of frost and ice on a scale that was normally impossible even for the highest-ranked magi. To Crono, the device was a stunningly perfect match, perfectly complimenting his strengths and turning his skill into the perfect weapon.

The downside to this, sadly, was that having it properly fortified and upgraded with a cartridge system had proven to be technically almost impossible.

Raijin struck the staff's primary shaft, and sliced through the metal cleanly before continuing straight for his chest without so much as a pause.

Chrono had just enough time (which was to say, about a millisecond) for a final thought. The sad thing was, the only one that could come to mind was, _And I thought 'saved by his mommy' was a bad thing to have on my first Captain-ranked mission report. 'Bisected' is going to look _so _much worse..._

The blade was so close he could practically feel it burning through his barrier jacket when a glowing blade of energy slammed into the side of the incoming weapon, sending it mostly off-course. _Mostly _because, as screaming agony ran up his left side like fire injected into his blood, the weapon still bit into his chest, just between the second and third ribs, and oh my it was _unpleasant..._

He fell, for what seemed like forever but was probably only about three seconds, and landed on something... not exactly soft, but yielding. At the very least it didn't leave any broken bones, which considering he probably had third-degree electrical burns _on his ribs_, was a relief in and of itself. His skeleton did not need any more surprises. He opened his eyes, and when the blurriness was gone, a soft green glow filled them. He sighed in annoyance. Yuuno had saved his life? He'd never hear the end of this.

No, wait, there had been a sword of light, too. So Yuuno _and _Fate had saved him, which was okay. You didn't have to feel bad about being in debt to family, and besides Fate was not the sort of person who would ever use her saving of your life against you. She had morals, unlike Yuuno.

Chrono had, perhaps, a skewed concept of how Yuuno actually operated. In fairness, this was mostly due to them being such good friends. Everyone has at least one dear old friend they generally just can't stand, and for Yuuno and Chrono, this was each other. They were Best Enemies Forever.

* * *

Susanoo rolled his eyes, fending off Fate's counterattack, even as he watched Chrono's fall being broken. It wasn't ideal, but he was out of the match for now. And _this _was interesting... Fate's weapon, normally a pale and easily broken yellow, had taken on a light green hue. He examined it, and from what he could tell, it showed no signs of breaking despite going nearly thirty (they were both, at this point, moving very _very _fast) exchanges with Raijin. The energy blade on his device was a compressed attack spell of immense power, designed intentionally as a device-breaker. He'd have wagered even one as solid as Signum's sword was starting to feel it after holding locked with him for a few seconds; there was no way that Fate's should have been able to stand up to him intact, unless...

_Enhancement magic. The kid who repelled the Colossus gave your blade a little polish, I see, _Susanoo thought at her, smiling despite himself. The communication had to be psychic; both of them were moving at near the speed of sound at this point.

_I couldn't stand on my own. My friends helped me, _Fate thought firmly, slashing aside his axe and whirling to cut down through his shoulder, but hitting only empty air. She banked right as hard as she could, feeling his counter take a few strands of her hair. _This part is all me, though. _

She went into a dive, feeling the sound barrier part around her as she poured every bit of energy she had into speed, golden wings igniting on her back, her wrists, her ankles. Susanoo followed in her wake, using her slipstream to keep up as before.

This was unwise of him.

Fate poured that tiny little bit of speed on, and the sonic boom went off directly in his face.

A sonic boom is not a horribly dangerous thing under most circumstances. It is, after all, just a really loud noise. If one happens in the sky above you, you'd probably assume it was just fireworks or something similar.

This does, however, imply that the source of the sonic boom is, as they almost always are, thousands of feet away from you. After all, how could you possibly be any closer to a supersonic vehicle? By their very nature, they almost have to be in the open sky, so as to avoid ramming very fast into something solid and exploding. When Fate broke the sound barrier, however, she was roughly, oh, thirty feet in front of Susanoo.

Hearing anything from that close up is going to make it a lot, lot louder.

The knight fell back, clutching his ears as an almost physical wave of sound slammed into him, followed rapidly by all sound, everywhere, devolving into a kind of aimless ringing. He spiraled down, slamming hard into dirt and skidding to a long stop on his hands and knees, the trail behind him smoking.

He sighed, and though he couldn't hear his own words, took the time to say out loud, _"Annoyed now." _

He snapped his weapon up, intercepting the descending Laevateinn as Signum re-entered the fray, the detonation from her blade slamming him downward so hard the ground shattered beneath his feet.

She said something, but he couldn't hear it. He chose to settle for just drawing lightning into his blade and swinging...

* * *

_They called him a general, but Tsu Kaishin didn't feel like one. _

_For starters, he had only really ever wanted to be a farmer. His homeworld, Shai Rin, was a lush one, with mineral-rich water fed by a massive ring of volcanoes along the equator that lent itself very well to agriculture (It made traveling between the northern and southern hemispheres an annoyance, of course, but no world was without its quirks). Kaishin had been part of a clan in service to the Third Potentate of the Tzena province, a noble of middling rank. His family had not been wealthy, but they had been well-fed and provided for. His lands were not the largest, but large enough that he had employed a dozen hands to aid him, and productive enough he could pay them a fair wage. Life was difficult often, and full of labor always, but he was content. _

_Then the Hazardi Thought Lord Ky-Ri Alzai had chosen Shai Rin as the testing ground for what she referred to as "medical experiments." Which was to say she had seeded the atmosphere with massive doses of lethal Akailan Fever, a disease ravaging Hazardi colonies. She had wanted a free source of viral infectees to study the progression of the disease, and to acquire antibody samples from any survivors. Millions had died in the space of a few weeks, both from the disease and from Hazardi warships razing any feeble attempts at armed resistance. Thousands more had survived the symptoms of the disease only to be taken by the Thought Lord's knights to be vivisected for tissue samples in her personal laboratories._

_Ky-Ri Alzai successfully synthesized a 90% effective cure for Akailan Fever in the space of less than two years, a result she considered largely successful. _

_Tsu Kaishin lost his wife, daughter, two sons, and mother. He considered this a reason to become a soldier. _

_The Alliance against Al Hazard was massive, its one advantage. The Thought Lords and their servitors were the most powerful magical force in all of known creation, and also quite likely the most amoral. Over the course of hundreds of years of abusing the fantastic powers their cruel research had unlocked, they had made enemies of literally hundreds of civilized worlds, and in addition many of their own holdings went had gone into open revolt upon the declaration of war. This made it fairly easy to find a world in which to enlist against them, and Kaishin had found himself unexpectedly good at soldiering, which was to say he had gotten out of several battles alive. This was a rarity, and had led to him being given command of a squad. He had then gotten almost half of them alive out of each engagement they entered, which was nothing less than amazing in a war in which it took upwards of two-hundred of the Alliance's soldiers to bring down a single Hazardi warmech or mage-knight. _

_And so, after ten years of soldiering, he had been made a general. Alliance generals had almost as short a life-expectancy as the soldiers, given the ease at which the Thought Lords were able to break encryption and the skill of Hazardi assassins, so the Guardian project had been a welcome piece of news to him, as he did not wish to die. But the guardian he got..._

"_Heya!" Susanoo said. "So, I guess I'm supposed to keep you alive. That ought to be interesting for a first mission!" _

_General Kaishin's inner circle (a fancy word for the three surviving members of his original squad of thirty, the few who had followed him through all this) looked somewhere between horrified and amused. _

"_So," Commander Kieros said. "You have _never _been on a mission before, kid?" _

"_Don't call me kid," Susanoo pouted. "I've been functional for eight months!" _

"_You're _eight months old?!_" Kieros snapped. "Oh Gods and Demons, they sent an _infant _to watch over the general's transfer?" _

"_It's not human, Kieros, stop talking to it like one," Lieutenant Davos said with a shrug. "It's just a weapon." _

_Kieros turned, his jaw dropping. "Davos, he's a kid. Look at him."_

"_No, it's a defensive drone in human form. Not any different from a Hazardi Black Knight or Star-Breaker. They look humanoid, and there's nothing inside but malice. The brass want it to protect the general, let them. Stars know, we're not likely to survive the trip cross-planet otherwise. Let it do its job." _

_Kaishin sighed. "Both of you, stop it. This is not the time to be falling on each other," turning to the young man—and gods above, he _did _look too damn young. Kaishin was more than used to seeing young men and women in his command, anyone of age was from an alliance world tended to be called to service. But most of them had eyes old beyond their years. This Susanoo was not just young. He was a _kid_, which was not something that Kaishin had seen in a long time. "Look, it's Unit Lightning, right? We should use rank in the field, so I want to be sure." _

"_Yup yup!" Susanoo said cheerfully, seemingly not bothered by the two officers having a discussion on if he was a person or not. "Though I prefer Susanoo. Or Susa! All my siblings call me that. Er, well... some of them, I guess. Actually, I think just Tsukuyomi. Say, do you know where she was posted? I asked, but the comm officer just told me it wasn't mission-critical, so..." _

_Kaishin held up a hand. "Look, Lightning. This is war zone. Focus." _

"_... Of course. Sorry, sir." _

"_Better," Kaishin said, nodding. "Battle lines have shifted. Earlier this morning, the defense lines around Callista City on Tuvorka broke, and the continent is now Hazardi hands. My command post, as such, needs to move with the retreating forces to the southern continent to set up new lines of defense." _

_Susanoo wrinkled his nose. "I read the mission briefing, sir." _

"_Had it downloaded?" Davos drawled._

"_Nah, that makes my brain itch," Susanoo said cheerfully. "Don't worry, though. My training was just about the best ever. I'm _sure _I can get all of you to the western continent alive!"_

"_Southern." _

"_Yes, that one." _

"_We're gonna die, aren't we?" Kieros asked nobody in particular. _

"_No, no, I'm here to do the opposite thing of that."_

* * *

Fate danced away through the sky like a black-and-gold ghost, Susanoo's strike cut short by green chains snapping around his arm. Again. Every time he was about to strike a killing blow, the chains came up, and while they shattered like glass, they also held him up for one more strike, dispelled one more enhancement that could have ended the battle faster. Just made things... _so _tedious.

However, there were some good points to slowing down the battle a bit, Susanoo mused. For one, it was much harder to analyze things at high velocities like the kind Fate preferred. Slowed down and playing defensively, it was so much simpler to work out where all these obnoxious support magics were coming from.

Susanoo leveled his weapon and narrowed his eyes, a ball of solid azure light gathering at the end of the blade. "No more binds, you little brat."

"**Roar of the Storm Dragon." **

The bolt was as tall as Yuuno himself, and twice as wide; he'd only seen a buster of that level from Nanoha herself, and this one was coming in _very _fast despite the distance, oh dear...

He held his hands out in front of him, palms facing out, fingers spread and thumbs just barely touching. "Iron Defense!" he snapped, the shield igniting in the air before him. The simple fact was, for Yuuno, if he had three seconds to react, a properly formed shield was simple, a dodge would likely not get him appreciably far from the blast zone. _Luckily, my shields aren't half bad. After all, I tanked that big robot..._

The bolt hit, then, and while the shield didn't break, it didn't exactly work, either. Lightning ran over the edges, flowing in streams around him, and the impact force pushed him backward at just a _little _too fast for him to be comfortable, cracks forming in his defense as he slammed into the ground and skidded backwards on his ankles, digging up furrows of earth.

… _On the other hand, I did put up a _much _better shield for the big robot! _Yuuno thought, his mind a little squeaky with panic as the lightning began to burn through the barrier, the light beginning to dim and crack at the edges of the circle.

"**Diamond Wall." **

The wave of light scattered, the pressure on Yuuno's shield suddenly broken as a miniature glacier burst out of the ground in front of him. "Move!" Chrono snarled, holding the mostly-fixed (field repairs were a gift from the heavens, though he had to thank Susanoo for being 'considerate' enough to damage only the solid-metal shaft and not any of the sensitive electronics in the main body) Durandal in his hands, a blue glow surrounding him and icy mist coming off his body. "Won't hold for long!"

Yuuno's greatest power was always his mind, and thus he quickly determined that the statement 'jump out of the way of the crushing energy beam' was probably not a bad plan. He took a flying leap, dropping his shield and pumping the mana into a barrier beneath his feet to press off of for added distance. Behind him, he heard the very worrisome sound of the ice shattering, and the energy bolt scything through the space he had vacated less than a second earlier.

_We're even for the last save,_ Chrono said into his head, his tone noticeably smug at the thought.

_I could have stopped that attack if he hadn't surprised me, _Yuuno muttered psychically. He hadn't exactly realized there was a contest going on for them to be 'even' in, but he was still not happy to suddenly be informed he wasn't winning it anymore.

* * *

Susanoo sighed sadly, watching as Chrono and Yuuno prepared to rejoin the battle, turning slightly to stare down at Fate and Signum as they flew in on another attack run from below, poised to flank him and take him from both sides. "It has been fun. You kids... I shouldn't be. I really shouldn't be. But I am sorry about this.

"It's almost a shame you fell for it."

Abandoning the attack, Susanoo flew straight up, towards his storm. Four bright blue stars ignited among the clouds, lighting up the battlefield more brilliantly than the sun, but each carrying with them the unmistakeable crackle of lightning and a cloyingly thick scent of ozone that washed over the battlefield.

Chrono's eyes widened. "That's... no, it can't be, when did he..."

_Oh, God. _

"Claw that tears apart the sky, wings that drive a hurricane, fangs that call the storm down to pierce all foes, roar that drives my enemy into panic. Descend, dragon of the skies, and call down the storm that kills gods."

_The spells. The spells he's been using this whole time... 'Storm Dragon'..._

The circles grew more brilliant, and Chrono screamed, "_He's been setting up a ritual this whole time! Get out of the way, before..." _

"**Rain of Apocalypse."**

The four mystical circles in the sky exploded, and the world followed them.

The rain of lightning made the prior blasts look tiny in comparison. Not a single huge bolt, but dozens, maybe hundreds of individual blasts, each nearly a meter in circumference and tearing massive craters in the ground from their impact, the explosions building on each other into a massive, dome-shaped wall of light that drowned out the entirety of the battlefield...

One by one, mages trying to flee or defend vanished in the light of destruction tearing down from the heavens.

It was several long minutes before the maelstrom ended, and when it did, the calm and silence was eerie; like the massive spell had not merely leveled everything in sight, but sucked the sound from the atmosphere. Not even dust remained on the wind, as Susanoo descended to stand in the center of the scorched crater nearly a mile in diameter, and closed his eyes. Extending his senses, he searched what remained of the battlefield for any sign of movements, and felt nothing. The flickers of magic were still present in among the storm of his power... survivors? That _would _be impressive. But none of what he could feel was on the move, so most likely nothing much...

_A shame. But now I can head to Tsukuyomi and end things once and for all. _He thought. It was time to...

Something moved in the wastes, pushing aside rocks and dirt to rise painfully to shaking legs out of the charred dirt.

Susanoo blinked. "I'll say this. If one of you was going to be conscious, I was expecting it to be Signum. But looking back, I guess this makes sense."

Yuuno wiped blood from his mouth, his face set in a determined scowl. "I... have the best defenses. Of anyone I know. Did you think... that would break me?"

"Yes, actually. The total energy was about what a Colossus at... oh, one-third-power puts out. It isn't as concentrated, of course, but you also didn't have time to put up much of a defense before the ritual landed. Ah, well... it's just you, now. Shouldn't be much of a problem." Susanoo said, shrugging.

Yuuno narrowed his eyes. "Don't be so sure. I'm better than people give me credit for," Yuuno said. Inwardly, he thought_, I am gonna die. I am gonna die. So much. I'm the support! He's gonna leave me a smear on the rocks!_

Susanoo smiled slightly. "You are indeed. The fact you can stand up proves that. But be realistic. I am a child of Al Sethis, little one. The closer it gets to the material plane, the stronger I get. There were _four _of you, and you couldn't even stand up to the _shadow _of my full power. I'm only getting stronger, and now you're alone and fatigued. You're a mortal fighting a god, kid. Stand down before you end up dead."

Yuuno tensed, a green aura bursting into life around him. "Not a chance. My friends believed in this fight, and I'm not going to give up until my body gives out on me! So get ready, you big lummox. You might be stronger than me, more experienced than me, bigger than me, and better armed than me. But I'm... um... I'm..."

"Couldn't think of a good way to finish that, huh?" Susanoo asked.

"I... I was hoping to come up with something while I said it," Yuuno admitted.

* * *

Nanoha pressed her back against the rock, struggling to catch her breath. She could hear it breathing (of course she could hear it breathing, it had eight faces to draw in air!) but she didn't have the thing in view at this point. She could have, if she'd tried, obviously, but moving around too much to get a clear view of it would have let it see _her_, and that would have ended badly.

Nanoha was familiar with the legend of the Orochi, of course. She was not particularly happy to discover that it was based in some kind of fact, nor that it was not exaggerating. The creature was a monster, in every sense of the word. One-on-one, she would have hesitated to fight it at her best. It's physical strength was enormous, and in terms of energy combat, its breath was basically a B-ranked buster spell. This normally wouldn't have upset Nanoha, who sent off A-ranked ones the way other people changed their socks, but in this case the Orochi had a small advantage in that it could fire eight of them at once. Worse, it wasn't crushing energy, like her attacks; whatever that poison it dripped from its mouths was, it was _extremely _flammable.

The teeth made the spark, somehow, and the next thing Nanoha and Vita had known, eight consuming streams of roaring red flame and choking, poisonous smoke were rushing toward them, and it was all they could do to scatter and pray...

She didn't know where Vita was. The explosion had separated them, and going through the smoke and flame the attacks had left behind was impossible until she could get up some kind of atmospheric barrier; just too much poison in both. A single mouthful had made her so dizzy she could barely fly straight in her attempt to get to cover. She suspected that if she got any more in her system before the first dose had cleared, she'd be in danger of losing consciousness.

Much, much too close to her, the Orochi's snarl of hunger made the rocks tremble.

_**The serpent that ends the world stirs, and prepares to bring disaster to all it surveys. The eternal night begins.**_

_**The moon shines down through a haze of venom, gleaming red as blood. **_


End file.
